Startup founders are being asked to leverage AI to move faster than ever before, in the face of tight cash, rising infrastructure costs, and added pressure to show serious traction early. Cloud credits, access to GPUs, and underlying models have made it easy to get started, but as startups move beyond free credits to actual cloud billing, early infrastructure choices can have unintended consequences.
In this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan speaks with Darren Mowry, VP of Global Startups at Google Cloud, who is at the center of these tradeoffs. Together, they discuss what Mowry sees across the startup ecosystem, how Google Cloud is competing with AI startups, and what founders should consider as they scale.
Listen to the full episode to hear:
What position does Google hold against AWS and Microsoft in the AI startup race? TPU vs. GPU: How important is hardware choice for early-stage companies? Which AI industries are seeing real growth, and what stands out in biotech, climate tech, developer tools, and global models. What are the red flags that indicate a startup will not succeed?
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