300B output tokens, $20-30M in compute: Ethan Mollick says AI science will need far more compute
eldonredwards · x · 2026-09-09
- Ethan Mollick cites an AI-assisted math research effort whose 300 billion output tokens would cost a regular user an estimated $20-30 million, arguing that "whatever compute we have, it is increasingly likely that we are going to need more compute" as AI scales up scientific work.
- The quoted author also raises the question of how science can sustain this level of compute investment once AI companies deprioritize problems beyond Millennium Prize Problems.
Related event: OpenAI's Costly Navier-Stokes Run Sparks Scooping and Brute-Force Debate(26 posts)→
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