Meet the startup helping Wall Street put a price on AI compute

# Meet the startup helping Wall Street put a price on AI compute | TechCrunch Source: [https://techcrunch.com/video/meet-the-startup-helping-wall-street-put-a-price-on-ai-compute/](https://techcrunch.com/video/meet-the-startup-helping-wall-street-put-a-price-on-ai-compute/) The AI buildout shows no signs of slowing\. And with hundreds of billions of dollars a year going into data centers and GPUs, compute has become the single biggest cost for anyone building AI products\. But for all that spending, there still isn’t a straightforward way to put a price on compute — or for firms to hedge their exposure when the price changes\. Silicon Data just closed a $30 million Series A to change that\. The startup aims to become the reference price for GPU rental and an index that a Wall Street futures contract would settle against\. The company plans to launch its compute futures trading[on the CME October 5th](https://www.cmegroup.com/media-room/press-releases/2026/8/11/cme_group_and_silicondatatolaunchcomputefuturesonoctober5tounloc.html), pending regulatory approval\. On this episode of TechCrunch’s[Equity](https://techcrunch.com/podcasts/equity/)podcast, Rebecca Bellan is joined by[Steve Hou](https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-hou-001/), head of research at Silicon Data, to discuss the health of the AI buildout, and why the data is telling a different story than the doom and gloom headlines about depreciating chips and[stalled](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/04/texas-halts-new-data-centers-as-governor-calls-for-audits/)[data centers](https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/14/new-york-state-halts-construction-of-all-new-data-centers/)\. Subscribe to Equity on[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TechCrunch),[Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1215439780),[Overcast](https://overcast.fm/itunes1215439780/equity),[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/5IEYLip3eDppcOmy5DmphC?si=rZDFHv2sQUul_g94iCRgpQ)and all the casts\. You also can follow Equity on[X](https://twitter.com/EquityPod)and[Threads](https://www.threads.net/@equitypod), at @EquityPod\. Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch focusing on Equity, the network’s flagship podcast\. Before joining TechCrunch in 2022, she was one of 2 producers at a four\-station conglomerate where she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and engineered live performances and interviews from guests like lovelytheband\. Theresa is based in New Jersey and holds a bachelors degree in Communication from Monmouth University\. You can contact or verify outreach from Theresa by emailing[theresa\.loconsolo@techcrunch\.com](mailto:[email protected])\. [View Bio](https://techcrunch.com/author/theresa-loconsolo/)