A framework to understand how value accrues across the AI stack. This is a blueprint for understanding what builds AI into its pragmatic parts: what each layer is, where it ends, and where value is accrued. So here’s how you can think about it: 1. Layer 1 - Infrastructure Before any AI model trains or any robot moves, an industrial foundation must exist. Land, energy grids, cooling systems, critical minerals, and fabrication facilities. Infrastructure is the constraint that all the other layers depend on. 2. Layer 2 - Chips Transistors that are etched onto silicon wafers using extreme ultraviolet light. This is what allows both physical and digital AI to take an input, process it, and return a predictive output. The more transistors that fit on a chip, the more computation it can perform. 3. Layer 3 - Data Both digital and physical models train on data. Digital models train on text, code, and images; physical models train on gravity, friction, depth, and sensor streams. The more accurate the data, the more accurate the output. 4. Layer 4 - Models A model is a system that learns from examples. Feed it enough examples of inputs paired with correct outputs, and it adjusts its internal structure until it can predict correct outputs on inputs it has never seen before. LLMs represent a specific class trained on text. They learn by processing billions of examples of human language, developing the ability to write, reason, summarize, and generate code. 5. Layer 5 - Execution This is what lets models take actions on behalf of users. The execution layer lets models pursue objectives through sequential action: observing the environment, reasoning about the next step, acting, and looping until the goal is reached. 6. Layer 6 - Application All of the AI Stack’s revenue originates at the application layer, then goes to the layers below. Every dollar paid for AI is paid for an outcome, a task completed, and an answer delivered. Nobody wants H100s for their own sake. They want H100s because someone, somewhere, wants to run an application. These are the different layers that make up the entire ecosystem of AI. We did a full study on the AI stack. If you want to read about it, head over to my Substack (https://chamath.substack.com/p/the-ai-stack)