💰AI Inference Costs Soar, Storage Spend Grows 25% Yearly
Your storage costs are about to skyrocket
TL;DR
AI inference demand is exploding, driving up storage costs by 25% annually. As AI-generated data grows, so does the need for efficient storage solutions. Expect your storage bills to rise significantly.
AI inference demand is skyrocketing, with storage costs growing by 25% year over year. This growth is driven by the massive amount of data generated by AI inference, including model logs, synthetic outputs, and inference results. For instance, an 8-second AI-generated video clip leaves over 500MB of associated data behind, and longer, higher-resolution videos can generate hundreds of gigabytes of data. McKinsey projects AI inference demand will grow at a 35% CAGR through 2030, making up more than 40% of total data center demand by the end of the decade. The key challenge is balancing performance with capacity, power, reliability, and total cost of ownership. Economically scalable capacity is needed to support the growing strategic value of data.

Key Points
AI inference demand grows at 35% CAGR through 2030, making up 40% of data center demand by 2030.
95% of respondents reported a 25% or more increase in data volume due to generative AI over the past year.
Storage costs grow 25% year over year, while compute budgets grow in a more predictable cyclical way.
AI-generated video clips leave over 500MB of associated data behind, growing into hundreds of gigabytes for longer videos.
Economically scalable capacity is needed to balance performance with capacity, power, reliability, and total cost of ownership.
Why It Matters
If you're running AI inference workloads, your storage costs are about to spike. McKinsey projects a 35% CAGR in AI inference demand through 2030, driving up storage costs by 25% annually. This growth is driven by the massive amount of data generated by AI inference, including model logs, synthetic outputs, and inference results. Economically scalable capacity is needed to balance performance with capacity, power, reliability, and total cost of ownership.
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