Powerful graphical processing units (GPUs) were once specialized technology, but two booms brought them mainstream. Crypto mining operations relied on GPUs to profit from digital currencies like Bitcoin. Separately, AI researchers leveraged GPUs to accelerate deep learning.

Crypto Boom Goes Bust

Crypto prices soared during the pandemic, triggering a GPU gold rush to mine coins. But in 2022 the crypto market collapsed, squeezing mining profitability. Unable to cover steep energy and hardware costs, mining rigs powered down worldwide.

AI Craves More Chips

As crypto mining declined, AI demand for GPUs ramped up. Training complex neural networks is extremely computationally intensive. Groups like OpenAI required GPU clusters costing millions to create models like DALL-E 2 and ChatGPT.

Fire Sale on Used GPUs

Left with huge excess GPU capacity, crypto miners sold off specialized hardware at steep discounts. Some mining groups went bankrupt during the crash, flooding second-hand markets with even cheaper used cards originally priced at thousands of dollars.

AI Economy Soaks Up Supply

Major tech companies and AI startups took advantage, expanding AI research labs filled with GPU servers to birth new models. Cloud platforms also bulked up GPU offerings to rent out processing for smaller AI teams.

Miners Retrain as Data Labelers

Unemployed from mining, some workers sought new careers labeling datasets used to train AI algorithms. The data labeling workforce enables the very technologies now powering the AI revolution in their place.

Uncertain Future for Graphics Cards

With surging AI demand tightening GPU supply, prices may rebound. Though crypto could rally back too. The global chip shortage also complicates stock. For now, GPUs represent a case study in specialized hardware transformed by competing computing booms.