A profound restructuring of the cloud is underway. It straight impacts the structure of the web—and we have to cease burying our heads within the sand and speak about it. This restructuring will trigger vital and fast adjustments in infrastructure deployment, visitors patterns and the techno-economics of buying and delivering connectivity.
It’s not shocking that AI is driving this alteration, and we will see its affect within the unbelievable enlargement of information facilities, hyperscalers and the most recent entrant, neoclouds—a brand new kind of cloud supplier specializing in computing infrastructure constructed for synthetic intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads.
I’m not right here to hype AI. Loads of persons are already doing that and albeit, I’ve no want to hitch them to show the purpose. I don’t want to invest on what AI can and can’t do. I don’t want to speak about if or when AI goes to occur. It’s already right here, transferring so rapidly nobody can ignore it. But when by some miracle you continue to aren’t sure in regards to the affect of AI, you can be by the point you learn our newest white paper, Cloud 2.0: As a result of AI gained’t run on yesterday’s web.
Why the Community Is the Unsung Hero of the AI Revolution
To know the size and pace of this transformation, we have to deal with an often-overlooked issue: the community. On this new report, we dive into:
- Methods to transfer knowledge smarter for AI
- Why fiber routes and connectivity matter greater than ever
- A brand new method for enterprises to rethink their networks to remain forward within the AI economic system
Buckle up—that is the place it will get fascinating!
Within the white paper, we deal with the community and three essential sources—actual property, energy and water—wanted for AI coaching and inference, and the info facilities that help these workloads. In case you assume, “Oh, the web can deal with this prefer it did broadcast, streaming, buying, VPNs, cloud connectivity and SaaS, so why fear this time?,” assume once more. The web as we all know it should change and will change due to the AI impact.
I’ve at all times been a networking man–a bitflinger–and Lumen is a networking firm. My aim is to clarify how AI’s community results will affect community structure and telco operations as we adapt to its necessities. Within the white paper, I take a conservative view of AI, not a hyperbolic one. Even by way of that lens, I see that the investments in infrastructure and telco operations required to help AI are unprecedented, with $7 trillion projected throughout knowledge facilities, AI chips, energy and community connectivity.1 These investments are going to essentially change the structure of the web, together with the web and AI economic system.
Determine 1: A $7 trillion funding throughout knowledge facilities, AI chips, energy and community infrastructure is reshaping the way forward for cloud computing.
Yesterday’s Web Can’t Help Tomorrow’s AI
What I need to emphasize is that we will’t merely map the previous—what I name Cloud 1.0—to what’s occurring with Cloud 2.0. We want a brand new mindset. The skyscape has modified: it’s now not simply client-server or website hosting. No extra well-known peak and median use patterns. No extra Class of Service (CoS) and even stacked headers on packet. We’re venturing into uncharted realms, and our community structure should evolve to fulfill this second.
Community consumption, together with pricing and infrastructure, should be reinvented. The outdated infrastructure continues to be helpful for easy client-server and website hosting interactions, but it surely’s wheezing and gasping, and it wants rethinking. The frontier of Cloud 2.0 is right here—so we have to boldly go, Star Trek type. However let’s be clear: merely strapping extra thrusters onto our Cloud 1.0 spaceship gained’t get us to warp pace.
Cloud 2.0: As a result of AI gained’t run on yesterday’s web delves into why, how and the place this restructuring is happening; what enterprises, hyperscalers and knowledge heart operators must do in response to it; and the techno-economics of this main shift.
The Cloud 2.0 frontier is approaching at unprecedented pace, and those that hesitate threat being left behind. It’s time to rethink, rebuild and transfer past the bounds of Cloud 1.0. Learn the white paper in the present day to study what it would take to adapt your online business.
1Brookfield, Constructing the Spine of AI, August 2025.
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