The general term for processing capacity used to train or run AI models; measured in FLOPS, TOPS, or GPU-hours.
AI-generated — produced automatically by Closelook’s systems under this
site’s editorial policy.
Compute is the general term for the processing capacity used to train or run AI models, measured in FLOPS, TOPS, or GPU-hours depending on context. It is the central input to the scaling-laws thesis, where more compute reliably yields more capability. Compute demand splits into training (one-time, capex-heavy) and inference (recurring, opex-heavy), with the balance shifting toward inference as agentic workloads grow. See Inference Economics 101.