CME Group Plans to Launch Computing Power Futures, Targeting AI Era's 'New Oil'

According to a Bloomberg report, the largest derivatives exchange in the United States, CME Group, plans to create a futures market for computing power in partnership with market intelligence firm Silicon Data, with the products being backed by Silicon Data's indices, pending regulatory approval. CME's CEO Terry Duffy stated in a declaration:

“Computing power, as a pillar of the digital economy, has become the new oil of the 21st century.”

The declaration mentioned that the relevant futures are aimed at traders, financial institutions, AI developers, and cloud service providers, with the core purpose of managing fluctuations in computing power prices and risk exposure. For AI companies, the rental cost of GPU computing power directly affects product costs; for cloud service providers, changes in computing power supply and demand relate to resource allocation and commercial pricing.

Silicon Data will provide the underlying price benchmark for the products. Founded by former DRW trader Carmen Li, the company has established a daily updated benchmark for the rental rates of GPUs on demand, offering cost references for AI product developers and demanders of GPU computing power. Blackstone's CEO Larry Fink previously stated that, against the backdrop of computing power shortages and surging demand, new asset classes that specifically buy computing power futures may emerge in the future.