CME Group to Launch Futures Market for AI Computing Power

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.

CME’s move reflects a broader effort to treat compute as a tradable commodity, which proponents say can improve price discovery and market efficiency.

In a separate corporate matter Tuesday, shares of Wendy’s rose about 14 percent after the Financial Times reported that activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management is seeking funding from outside investors, including in the Middle East, for a potential bid to take the fast-food chain private.

Wendy’s has struggled with four straight years of declining stock performance and five consecutive quarters of falling U.S. same-store sales. Peltz, whose stake in Wendy’s stood at 16.24 percent as of a February filing, had previously described the stock as undervalued and said he had held talks on possible deals including an acquisition.

The company did not respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, Virginia Democrats filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asking the justices to reinstate a new congressional map approved by voters last month. The map had been blocked Friday by the Virginia Supreme Court, which ruled the Democratic-controlled legislature improperly placed the constitutional amendment on the ballot after early voting had begun.

The state court decision found the process violated the Virginia constitution. Democratic lawyers called the ruling “judicial defiance” of the commonwealth’s statutes and argued it deprives voters of lawfully enacted districts that would have given their party an advantage in 10 of 11 House seats.

Legal observers consider the Supreme Court appeal a long shot, as the nation’s highest court rarely overturns state supreme courts’ interpretations of their own constitutions. The Virginia dispute is the latest development in a nationwide mid-decade redistricting battle that began when President Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw maps last year.

A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision weakening the Voting Rights Act has accelerated map changes in several Southern states.