Agentic AI requires extensive if-then-else decision orchestration, work handled by CPUs; industry estimates suggest the CPU:GPU ratio could rise from roughly 1:4 in typical LLM scenarios to nearly 1:1, pushing up both CPU demand and prices.
a16z says data from Ornn, Silicon Data, and Bloomberg through August 2026 shows a textbook Jevons paradox in the AI market: token prices keep falling, yet H100 GPU rental prices hold steady or rise, as cheaper tokens fuel AI agents and automation with usage growing faster than prices drop.
TrendForce supply chain research shows that despite reports China may relax import restrictions on the NVIDIA H200, actual H200 entry into China remains highly uncertain. Under export controls on high-end GPUs, the Chinese government is actively promoting domestic AI chip adoption this year, and the local ecosystem is gradually maturing in advanced process nodes, advanced packaging, and thermal management. China's AI infrastructure is shifting from reliance on foreign GPUs toward a dual-track model of domestic GPUs plus in-house ASICs.