I worry they’re going to destroy the chips they can’t afford to deploy to keep them from being used for local inference
I don’t understand the scenario that destroying the chips would guard against. Amazon could just leave these chips in a warehouse indefinitely.
Depends on how they're stored. Computer chips aren't potato chips, they don't rot, properly stored they can last a really long time, a multitude of storage technologies are available for that purpose.
> Doesnt take long for chips to go out of date.
That used to be the case but it's no longer true. Advanced chips are made by 3 companies total and competition is nowhere to be seen. Then, with every generation of chips, their production costs and prices are rising more than the benefits that generation provides i.e. the benefits curve is flattening faster than cost curve.
Theoretically, China can bring the prices down but they are sanctioned, tariffed and have a huge market of their own to satisfy first.