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The a16z Show · Friday, August 28, 2026

Shift in AI Bottlenecks: From Models to Underlying Hardware

The discussion highlights a significant shift in AI development, where the primary bottleneck is no longer the models themselves but the underlying infrastructure. This includes advancements in chips, memory, and data center capabilities, which are now under immense pressure.

The tape

2 quotes
Or number two, I think what we have seen over the last three years is a steady increase of the capability base of the models, where the model is no longer the bottleneck.
And in fact, using AI, these models are getting better faster and faster and faster. Now, the bottleneck is all what I call south of the model. And so that's why we need to work on that.
Heard on The a16z Show — “The Infrastructure Behind the Machine Age, published Friday, August 28, 2026. Heardvine summarizes and quotes with attribution and timestamps, and links to the original everywhere.
Transcribed via Gemini audio transcription · $0.06
Shift in AI Bottlenecks: From Models to Underlying Hardware — Heardvine