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In a recent podcast, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang made a really interesting “big observation” along the lines of artificial intelligence becoming a new type of commodity. He went to further describe NVIDIA as, in part, a factory for this new type of commodity.
What would need to be true for artificial intelligence to function as a commodity?
Traditionally, a commodity is defined as a basic good that’s used to make other products. It’s standardized, interchangeable, and valued mainly by price rather than unique qualities.
Commodities are often physical products — metals like gold and steel or agricultural goods like wheat and soybeans. However, some services, also function as commodities. Examples of these include cloud storage, basic internet bandwidth, and even electricity in certain markets.
These products and services have in common at least two traits: they’re standardized and interchangeable. Consumers don’t typically seek unique qualities in electricity or cloud storage space. Instead, they’re valued for their availability and price. This same logic could apply to artificial intelligence as it becomes more widely available and less differentiated.
