Tech Brew Ride Home

Episode: The Winners Of The AI Boom You Never Thought About

Host: Brian McCullough
Date: October 20, 2025

Brief Overview

This episode dives into the major under-the-radar beneficiaries of the ongoing AI boom—not flashy AI startups or cloud giants, but firms in the old-school business of cables and crypto mining. Alongside these main stories, host Brian McCullough catches listeners up on a significant AWS outage impacting much of the web, a controversial Sora AI-generated video ban, X’s new handle marketplace for premium users, biometric tech advancements from Aura, and a milestone for US chip manufacturing.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Major AWS Outage: Widespread Effects Across the Internet

Timestamps: 00:35-02:55

• Event: Overnight, a major AWS outage disrupted Amazon, Fortnite, ChatGPT, Snapchat, and more—highlighting just how much core infrastructure hinges on AWS.
  • "Big AWS outage took down half the Internet overnight." — Brian McCullough (00:37)
• Status updates:
  • 3:11am ET: Outage began in the US East 1 region; global services also hit.
  • 6:35am ET: Most AWS services recovering.
  • As of 9:50am ET, some operational issues remained.
• Real-world impact: Alexa routines failed, apps like Perplexity, Airtable, Canva, and McDonald's app were all affected.

"In my own experience, I found that routines like preset alarms were not functioning." — Brian McCullough (02:08)

2. Sora AI Videos Controversy: The Challenges of Moderating Generative AI

Timestamps: 02:56-04:31

• OpenAI paused Sora’s ability to generate videos of Martin Luther King Jr. after users created “disrespectful depictions.”
• Response driven by MLK’s estate and public backlash; similar requests made by Robin Williams' daughter.
• OpenAI's approach: Public figures and families can restrict likeness use in Sora.
• Content moderation: OpenAI tightening Sora policies, but relaxing ChatGPT’s, allowing adult chats for consenting users.

"OpenAI believes public figures and their families should ultimately have control over how their likeness is used." — TechCrunch, quoted by Brian (03:25)

"[Nick Turley, head of ChatGPT]: The best way to teach the world about a new technology is by putting it out in the world." (04:20)

3. X (formerly Twitter) Introduces a Handle Marketplace

Timestamps: 04:32-06:13

• New feature: Marketplace for Premium and Business subscribers to acquire inactive or “priority/rare” handles.
• Mechanics:
  • Free transfer for Premium+ users if approved; pricing for rare handles driven by desirability.
  • Handles like “Pizza,” “Om,” and “On” cited as examples.
  • Marketplace aims to curb bot spam and ensure secure, fair distribution.
  • Application process considers user engagement and handle’s significance.
• If subscription lapses, handles returned after a grace period, unless purchased directly.

"Rare X handles can cost between $2,500 to even more than $1 million." — Brian McCullough/TechCrunch (04:42)

"The Marketplace quote allows for fair and secure distribution through a controlled process." — X help page, quoted by Brian (05:59)

4. Oura Ring Adds Stress Management, Pursues Blood Pressure Feature

Timestamps: 06:14-07:04

• App Redesign: Weekly cumulative stress metric aggregating sleep, heart rate, temperature, and activity data.
• FDA Collaboration: Blood pressure study aiming to spot early signs of hypertension for US users via Ouralabs.
• Spots a trend towards more biometrics in consumer health wearables.

"The company also announced that it's working with the FDA on a blood pressure study… Its aim is to develop a feature that can identify early signs of hypertension." — The Verge, quoted by Brian (06:45)

5. TSMC & Nvidia: US-Made Blackwell Chips Enter Volume Production

Timestamps: 07:05-08:20

• Milestone: First Blackwell AI chip wafer produced at TSMC Arizona factory—major step for US chip self-sufficiency.
• CEO Jensen Huang’s remarks: Marked the event as “historic,” highlighted intention to spend half a trillion dollars on US AI infrastructure.
• President Trump lauded for reshoring efforts.
• However, full independence from overseas manufacturing remains a distant goal.

"You built something incredible, but you will realize in time that you are part of something historic." — Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO (07:20)

"Today we've laid the foundation for the US to lead the AI race at the infrastructure level." — Jensen Huang (08:15)

6. AI Boom’s Surprise Winners: Cables and Crypto Miners

Timestamps: 10:39-15:08

A. Credo: The Quiet Cable Kingpin

• Company: Credo, specializing in active electrical cables (AECs) for AI server clusters.
• Stock Surges: Doubled this year after a 245% gain last year; market cap now ~$25 billion (up from $1.4B at 2022 IPO).
• Signature product: Purple AECs, crucial for connecting modern AI servers, replacing/competing with fiber optics.
  • Each AI server now needs more cables than before (e.g., nine per server).
  • Analysts estimate Credo has 88% of the AEC market.
  • Sturdier, more reliable, and longer than traditional copper cables.
• Of note:
  • “The company also turned profitable, recording net income of $52.2 million after losing $28.4 million the prior year.” (11:58)
  • “Nvidia says in the past, Credo's opportunity was one cable per server. But now Credo's opportunity is nine cables per server...” — Alan Weckel, 650 Group (13:16)

"Credo's purple cables are the signature offering... whose name rarely gets mentioned alongside the leaders of the AI boom, but Wall Street has taken notice." — Brian/ CNBC (11:06)

B. Crypto Miners: From Mining Bitcoin to Building AI Data Centers

• Background: Bitcoin mining companies repurposing infrastructure for AI and high performance computing (HPC).
• Performance: Sector ETF up 150% YTD; some firms (Cipher Mining, Iron) up 300–500% as they transition to AI infrastructure.
• Big Deal: Cipher Mining’s $3B, 10-year colocation deal with Fluidstack (Google-backed)—marks a significant pivot from BTC mining to AI.
• Transformation: Investors now value miners for their AI/HPC capacity, not just bitcoin mining.
• Expansion: Iron’s $1B convertible note, Terra Wolf’s $3.2B financing, BitDeer converting major mining sites into AI-ready data centers.

"Investors are almost exclusively valuing bitcoin miners for their HPC AI opportunities at this point." — John Todaro, Needham & Co. (14:36)

"The agreement is one of the clearest signals yet that the line between crypto mining and AI computing is blurring." — Brian/Bloomberg (14:50)

"Full conversion could yield annualized revenue exceeding $2 billion by the end of 2026." — Brian referring to BitDeer Technologies (15:06)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AWS Outage:

  "Big AWS outage took down half the Internet overnight." (00:37)

• On AI Video Moderation:

  "OpenAI believes public figures and their families should ultimately have control over how their likeness is used." (03:25)

• On Cables Running the AI World:

  "Credo's opportunity was one cable per server. But now Credo's opportunity is nine cables per server." — Alan Weckel (13:16)

• On Crypto Miners’ Evolution:

  "Investors are almost exclusively valuing bitcoin miners for their HPC AI opportunities at this point." — John Todaro (14:36)

• On Reshoring US Chipmaking:

  "You built something incredible, but you will realize in time that you are part of something historic." — Jensen Huang, Nvidia (07:20)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• AWS outage coverage: 00:35–02:55
• Sora AI video controversy: 02:56–04:31
• X handle marketplace: 04:32–06:13
• Oura’s stress and blood pressure tech: 06:14–07:04
• TSMC Arizona & Nvidia Blackwell chips: 07:05–08:20
• Cables and crypto miners boom: 10:39–15:08

Conclusion

This episode spotlights the hidden arteries of the AI revolution: not just chips and code, but the tangible, often overlooked essentials—like cables and converted crypto mines—powering the next era of high-performance computing. Listeners come away with a broader appreciation for how deep and unexpected the ripple effects of the AI boom truly run.