Decoder. plain-English AI glossary

GPU cloud

● CoreGPU cloud

A service that rents GPUs by the hour—useful for training models without buying hardware.

Think of it like

Renting a bulldozer instead of owning one—pay per day, return when done.

Example

Lambda, CoreWeave, RunPod, Modal. Rent H100s at $3-5/hour, SSH in, train your model.

How it actually works

GPU clouds democratized model training. No upfront $500k investment; pay as you go. Tradeoff: you pay a premium (more than data center rental), and availability fluctuates. Newer providers are targeting AI workloads specifically.

For product teams

Lowers barrier to entry for training; shifts capex to opex.

For engineers

Hourly billing; SSH/cloud APIs; community-built; less reliable than owned infra.

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