How AI Is Shaking Up the Chip Market

In less than 12 hours, three different people offered to pay me if I'd spend an hour talking to a stranger on the phone. All three said they'd enjoyed reading an article I'd written about Google building a new computer chip for artificial intelligence, and all three urged me to discuss the story with one of their clients. Each described this client as the manager of a major hedge fund, but wouldn't say who it was. The requests came from what are called expert networks--research firms that connect investors with people who can help them understand particular markets and provide a competitive edge (sometimes, it seems, through insider information). These expert networks wanted me to explain how Google's AI processor would affect the chip market.