The Economist 2026-10-26-3
The rise of AI finance
Compute trades through brokers on WhatsApp and Telegram because chips, locations and durations differ, and lenders can't value long-term contracts whose counterparties may not survive the term. Smaller operators already pay double-digit interest rates, CME and ICE futures still await approval, and Jump's CIO puts clearing years away. The only hedge on a rental price so far is a six-figure pilot trade on H100s, which is the market any decade-long obligation would have to lean on.