Yeah, that idea only really works in a vacuum or toy systems. It breaks down pretty quickly once you include anything beyond the pure model. Now, it is a factor, the behavior is still there, but it is quickly drowned out by others.

Not saying that it can't happen, but it increases the cost and limits growth. You do get a few special cases, but if you look at population heatmaps, they drop off rapidly once you cross that line unless there is some reason for a dense population center to be somewhere.

A key word there is 'drive', and what 'best' really entails. If a place does not have easy access to major waterways for shipping, its ability to grow is going to be pretty limited. If you look at a map of the US, where the population is and is not, it mostly comes down to 'can barges get there'.

Eh, one of the big open secrets in the field is AI researchers (as opposed to tech bros) tend to be pretty open about how AI should never be used for anything where getting an answer right is important. The hussle crowd loves selling them as solutions to science, engineering, and medicine, but meaningless slop is all it is really good for and the only place where people are willing to actually pay (since those tend to be use cases that make money while having no legal liability)

Meaning well and being serious about their field is not mutually exclusive with being pseudoscience quacks. They are usually not con artists, they really believe in what they are doing.. but just like their customers it is a belief rooted in conspirtal thinking and selective bias.

Yeah, but just like other snake oil, people are REALLY committed to the mythology and lash out at anything that contradicts it. When you can paint any disagreement as part of a vast evil conspiracy, critical thinking is just a punchline.

I am not even sure what 'PhD level reasoning' would even mean. PhDs are specializations, meaning detailed about some narrow topic. Reasoning has nothing to do with it unless you are in a specific field that involves theory on, well, reasoning.

Within my use cases, I can not picture ever wanting my OS to be 'agentic'. I already want it to STOP doing things without being asked to. Am I going to have to start finding ways to make my OS do what I ask instead of what some marketer thinks people like me want it to do?

I have found little value in arguing with the gold standard cult. Their whole world view is based off an alternative history, conspiratal thinking, and poor math skills. There is nothing really to argue with since fundamentally it is a quasi religious issue.

In the US, there is a weird disconnect between what is a 'engineer' in the legal sense, and what companies put on job descriptions because they sound cool and americans like being called cool things. Last time anyone tried cracking down on the practice software people went kinda crazy. In a bit of irony, the case was decided by a pair of professions (judge and lawyer) where presenting yourself as one can get you in SERIOUS trouble, who felt that the standards of their profession should not apply to others. Protection for me, not for thee....

Hush, don't tell them that.. it hurts their self image.

Depending on the state, data centers in other states can still impact your prices. A lot of power is traded on inter state markets, so local companies might be selling more of their power or it is more expensive for them to buy others... but also, the various inputs (fuel and specialized equipment) are also seeing a jump in price as demand for those increase too.

This, It is always difficult when profit generating uses and 'keeps me alive' uses exist for the same limited resource. Companies with lots of cash (you can't really call the whole AI datacenter sector profitable right now, but it is lucrative) who want something can pay more than people who just need something to live.

With all the VC money flowing into AI now, I imagine the various quantum computing companies are getting a bit anxious about finding someone to buy them out. And just like the promise 'national crypto reserve', having a grifter running the country with promises out to other grifters who are running low on marks, I imagine they are REALLY hoping for some state funding to cash out with.

There are a few paywalls in the way, but the first few lines of both TFA and its link to WSJ specifically say the companies are engaged in talks with the administration that involve the government taking a stake.