The Funniest Thing about ClusterMax 3.0
Much of X only knows like ~5 of the names on ClusterMax 3.0. I know a few more of them so I can point out how ridiculous some of these rankings are.
I used VastAI for my masters project because they are by far the lowest price. VastAI is a distributed GPU hosting network with a thin veil software support. Anyone can apply and put their GPUs on VastAI (1). Some of these GPUs are literally hosted in people's basements. Literally, if you put up their listings for RTX 5090, the top four recommended listings are GPUs hosted in Vietnam, Taiwan, Nebraska, and Estonia (2).
Now
@SemiAnalysis_ ranks VastAI above
$IREN and one tier below AWS.
$CRWV and
$NBIS are two tiers above AWS. This means I can plug in GPUs in my bedroom and be closer to AWS than AWS is to
$CRWV and
$NBIS on ClusterMax rankings. Hey but you know what? My home has a Generac Generator and Cisco CW9300 Enterprise Grade Switch. I'm now a tier above
$IREN and only one grade below AWS.
ClusterMAX 3.0 is here!
ClusterMAX 3.0 debuts with a comprehensive review of the neocloud industry, covering 77 providers.
We increase our market view to cover 323 providers, up from 209 in ClusterMAX 2.0, 169 in ClusterMAX 1.0, and 124 in the original AI Neocloud Playbook and Anatomy article.
We have now interviewed well over 200 end users of neoclouds as part of this research.
We update our itemized list of criteria across 10 categories, and update our direct descriptions of our expectations for Slurm, Kubernetes, Standalone Machines, Monitoring Dashboards, and Health Checks. All of this content is live on our website. We encourage providers to use these lists when developing their offerings. We still consider these lists as an amalgamation of our experience interviewing end users, making them representative of the features that end users expect from their cloud providers.
Nebius joins CoreWeave in the Platinum tier. While CoreWeave still sets the technical bar for others to follow, Nebius is now established as a provider that consistently commands a premium pricing over others. Strong business decisions by Nebius have put them in a position to serve an entire class of neolabs at seller’s prices.
Google Cloud joins Oracle in the Gold tier. Azure moves to Silver, Fluidstack moves to Unavailable, and Crusoe drops to Bronze. Lambda, Firmus and TensorWave remain in Silver, while GMI moves up to Silver from Bronze.
Many companies drop from Silver (or Gold) to Bronze or lower. We raise the bar this round as only 19 neoclouds globally achieve a Medallion rating.
We establish a tier between Bronze and Underperforming: the Participation Ribbon tier. 15 providers join this rating, which more accurately describes our opinion that they do the bare minimum to get by.