Cathie Wood Says AI Inference Costs Are Falling 99.99% a Year

ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood says the sharp decline in AI inference costs could lift productivity and corporate earnings, while pushing inflation below what most investors expect. She described that combination as “benign deflation.”

Wood said the cost of running AI inference at the same performance level is falling 99.99% a year. Inference is the process of using a trained AI model to produce responses or perform tasks.

She pointed to OpenAI’s annualized revenue run rate rising from $20 billion to $70 billion as evidence that falling costs are accompanying rapid demand growth. An annualized run rate projects a current revenue pace across a full year; it is not the same as reported annual revenue.

ARK Invest projected that real GDP growth could reach the high single digits, a pace Wood acknowledged many people would consider “crazy.” She also said interest rates could rise in an environment of stronger real growth.