# Compute Scarcity Can Delay Mundane Automation for Higher-Value Research by Alexander Wissner-Gross > Compute scarcity can delay mundane automation even when the software exists. If disease research, scientific simulation, robotaxis, customer service, and domestic robots compete for the same chips, capacity flows first toward the applications expected to create the most value per token. > **— Adapted from Alexander Wissner-Gross**, *Moonshots, October 7, 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Recording and precise locator:** [2:05:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRdb8UmPnh0&t=7549s) — *The Fight Over Claude's Consciousness, AI's 1942 Moment, & Why Altman Says "Accept Some Bad Things"*, Moonshots, October 7, 2026. - **Exact reconciled source excerpt:** “The other higher callings for the RAM and the GPUs sucked all of the capacity out of that industry. Until the Terafab comes online, the things you can do, like Navier–Stokes, are escalating so fast that they’re taking priority over the more mundane use cases, like folding your laundry.” - **Editorial status:** The poster is explicitly labeled **Adapted from** because it consolidates spoken context into a self-contained proposition. It must not be represented as verbatim speech. Numerical claims, forecasts, legal interpretations, and claims about current organizations remain the speaker’s assertions unless separately verified. - **Reconciled source dossier:** [[research/All Things Superintelligence Research - The Coming Manhattan Project - Moonshots|All Things Superintelligence Research — The Coming Manhattan Project — Moonshots]] preserves broadcast order, speaker attribution, timing, and the source-fidelity boundary. - **Preparation ledger:** [[research/All Things Superintelligence Research - The Coming Manhattan Project - Moonshots - Reminder and Wiki Preparation|Reminder and Wiki Preparation]] records candidate 38, its mechanism, evidence posture, and misreading risks. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Wiki source hub:** [[wiki/Moonshots - The Coming Manhattan Project|Moonshots — The Coming Manhattan Project]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Alexander Wissner-Gross|Alexander Wissner-Gross]] - [[wiki/Compute Allocation|Compute Allocation]] - [[wiki/AI for Science|AI for Science]] - [[wiki/Compute Scarcity|Compute Scarcity]] ## Share on Social Media ``` Compute scarcity can delay mundane automation even when the software exists. If disease research, scientific simulation, robotaxis, customer service, and domestic robots compete for the same chips, capacity flows first toward the applications expected to create the most value per token. — Adapted from Alexander Wissner-Gross, Moonshots, October 7, 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-alexander-wissner-gross-compute-scarcity-can-delay-mundane-automation-for-higher-value-research ```