Lead idea
GPU depreciation cycles may extend beyond six years
The thesis presented was that chip depreciation cycles could extend beyond the standard six years, as older chips retain value for cheaper inference and managed services abstract away the underlying hardware. Chase Lochmiller (Co-founder and CEO of Crusoe) made the case on The Twenty Minute VC’s “20VC: The Future of Datacentres: What You Need to Know | Why Everyone Gets GPU Depreciation and AI's Energy Costs Wrong | Who Really Makes Money From AI & Why Most Moats Don't Exist with Chase Lochmiller”, aired 3 October 2026. The reasoning was that demand for the frontier of silicon will persist, but there will also be demand for cheaper intelligence using older, slower chips, especially through service layers that monetize the hardware longer.
Chase Lochmiller · THE TWENTY MINUTE VC · “20VC: The Future of Datacentres: What You Need to Know | Why Everyone Gets GPU Depreciation and AI's Energy Costs Wrong | Who Really Makes Money From AI & Why Most Moats Don't Exist with Chase Lochmiller” · 2W AGO