The AI Divide: Why Internet Speed Matters More Than Chip Speed
In the emerging world, "Edge AI" is a luxury. The real revolution is happening in the cloud, where latency is the new literacy and fiber is the new oil.
The AI Divide: Why Internet Speed Matters More Than Chip Speed
We are obsessed with having AI on our phones. But for the rest of the world, the revolution isn't in the processor; it's in the ping.
Inspiration: Imagine seeing a developer in Vietnam deploy code instantly on a $400 laptop because he had 1Gbps fiber, while a well-funded team in a "laggy" region struggled to sync their git repo.
In the US and Europe, we are obsessed with "On-Device AI." We buy iPhone 16s and Pixel 10s so the AI runs locally. We have the hardware budget.
The rest of the world doesn't. They rely on mid-range Androids and older laptops.
But they won't run the model; they will stream the model. Their device is just a screen; the "brain" is in the cloud.
Latency is the New Tariff
If you are an outsourced worker in Eastern Europe or Southeast Asia using an AI agent to code or write, your productivity is capped by your Ping, not your Processor.
Countries with robust fiber infrastructure (Vietnam, Romania, Poland) will crush countries with spotty grids.
The Philippines dominated the "Voice" era (Call Centers). But the "Agentic" era requires massive data transfer. If the internet cuts out, the AI brain goes lobotomized. Stable infrastructure is the new degree.
Big Tech’s Cable Strategy (TAM Expansion)
Why are Google and Meta spending billions laying subsea cables to Africa and SEA?
It isn't charity. It’s TAM (Total Addressable Market) expansion.
They know these markets can't afford $3,000 MacBooks. But if they provide fast internet, these users can use Gemini/Llama via the cloud. The cable is the delivery mechanism for the product.
SpaceX: The Rural Equalizer
Talent is equally distributed; opportunity is not. Usually, opportunity clusters in cities with fiber.
Starlink destroys the "Geographic Gatekeeper." It allows a brilliant kid in a remote village in Indonesia to work for a Silicon Valley startup with the same latency as someone in San Francisco.
The Telecom Comeback
We usually hate Telecom stocks. They are utilities.
But in an AI-first emerging market, the ISP is the most important vendor. If "Compute" is outsourced to the cloud, "Connectivity" becomes the premium asset. People will pay a premium for low-latency 5G/Fiber because their job depends on it.
Conclusion: The Gatekeepers Fall
The internet connected us. AI equalizes us.
My Prediction: The next generation of global talent won't be defined by the university they went to, but by the stability of their connection to the cloud.
