Chasing Chips: The Desperate and Inventive Ways AI Startups Are Securing GPU Access in a Locked-Down Market
With GPU inventory tightly controlled by a handful of suppliers and cloud giants, emerging AI startups are deploying increasingly creative—and sometimes ethically ambiguous—strategies to secure the compute they need to survive. From cultivating back-channel relationships with hardware distributors to striking unconventional equity-for-compute deals with cloud providers, the scramble for AI accelerators is reshaping who gets to compete in the industry. Whether this allocation chaos represents a t