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CME Group to Launch Futures Market for AI Computing Power
CME Group and Silicon Data are creating a futures market for computing power, the key resource driving artificial intelligence development. The contracts aim to help traders, AI companies and cloud providers manage price volatility in GPU rental rates.
May 12, 2:55 PM·3m read5 sources
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CME Group and index provider Silicon Data have partnered to create a futures market for computing power, a critical input for artificial intelligence systems. The futures will allow traders, financial firms, AI developers and cloud providers to hedge against volatility in the price of compute, according to Bloomberg.
Indexes developed by Silicon Data will serve as the benchmark for the new contracts. The project remains subject to regulatory review. “As the backbone of the digital economy, compute is the new oil of the 21st century,” Terry Duffy, CME Group CEO, said in a statement.
“As the backbone of the digital economy, compute is the new oil of the 21st century. Every AI model trained, every transaction cleared and every byte of data processed runs on compute, which is becoming a fast-emerging asset class in its own right.”
Computing power, commonly referred to as compute, has seen explosive demand as companies scale AI training and inference. A single data center can require hundreds or thousands of graphics processing units, each costing thousands of dollars to rent by the hour. Until now, participants have had limited tools to manage swings in those costs.
Silicon Data, founded by former DRW trader Carmen Li and backed by trading firm DRW Holdings, has created daily GPU benchmarks for on-demand rental rates. The index gives builders of AI products and users of GPU computing power greater transparency into their cost of goods.
Futures contracts on the exchange would let market participants lock in prices for future delivery of compute capacity, similar to contracts for oil, metals or agricultural commodities. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said last week that a new asset class will likely emerge around buying futures of compute given current shortages and high demand.
