Transformers are the new transistors
The architecture of superintelligence is millions of GPT calls running in concert. Here's what that means for SMB acquisition operators over the next five years.
In the next five years, AI application companies will leave no stone unturned in their march toward complete AI transformation — a revolution on par with the invention of the computer. Everyone stands to benefit. Including investors.
I like to say transformers (the tech behind GPT) are the new transistors. That metaphor should give you an idea of the impact we're talking about. It's a technology that enables technology.
Think of one interaction with a GPT as a unit of superintelligence. Now imagine programs processing millions of GPT interactions in concert, the way a computer is a program running on billions of transistors. That's the architecture of superintelligence.
OpenAI's reasoning models already do this. When you send a message, they generate a reasoning plan and then leverage many GPT-unit interactions to work through the problem. I've watched single queries execute over a hundred reasoning steps before producing an answer.
This trend is only going to explode. Soon we'll see hundreds of GPT reasoning steps deployed continuously — the foundation of real-time cognition in robotics and IT.
Which is why every SMB acquisition operator we invest in needs a forward-thinking, comprehensive AI plan. The massive, once-in-a-lifetime value-add will split between infrastructure, application teams, and the users — searchers and M&A teams. Today we're in awe of HVAC roll-ups. Tomorrow we'll be in awe of the pool service chain that used AI tools to blow past the entire market.
What's your company's AI plan? And where are you positioning yourself — as a user, an application, or as infrastructure?