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In this podcast, hosts Vikram Ramakrishnan and Faizaan Shamsi, partners at the software consultancy QuantLayer, talk to investors and builders of the cryptocurrency arena. We discuss how industry participants think about crypto assets, how they uncover fraud in the market, and which technologies will turn the budding, nascent crypto space into the revolutionary powerhouse early market participants had hoped for.

Nov 13, 2019

Recently, there has been a lot of recent interest in customized semiconductors. Bitcoin mining has highlighted the interest in ASICs, or application specific chips, and as we move up the customized application layer stack, discussion of AI and ML chips becomes necessary. On this episode, we look at Canaan Mining, a chinese Bitcoin mining chip manufacturer. And we look at them in the context of growing trends in AI and ML chips. We compare and contrast AMD and NVIDIA and discuss the new growth in startups in the traditionally capital intensive space. We finish up with what you should be on the lookout for when considering investing in chip manufacturers.

Topics:

  • Canaan F1
  • On their mission statement
  • Quick overview on Canaan
  • Industry overview
  • Overview of bitcoin and blockchain mining economics
  • AI and ML chips
  • What CPU is
  • What GPU is
  • What ASIC is
  • What TPU is
  • On their risk factors

Links:

History and Corporate Structure - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1780652/000119312519276263/g773846g13c91.jpg
Canaan.io - https://canaan.io/
IPO prospectus - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1780652/000119312519276263/d773846df1.htm#rom773846_1
Canaan Creative - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan_Creative
SEC Form F-1 - https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sec-form-f-1.asp
Specialized AI Chips Hold Both Promise and Peril for Developers - https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/semiconductors/processors/specialized-ai-chips-hold-both-promise-and-peril-for-developers
NVIDIA Gross Profit Margin - https://ycharts.com/companies/NVDA/gross_profit_margin