# Pivot Related Articles

HTX News Center provides the latest articles and in-depth analysis on "Pivot", covering market trends, project updates, tech developments, and regulatory policies in the crypto industry.

Li Kaifu and Wang Xiaochuan Pivot: The First Half of the Large Model Entrepreneurship Era Ends

Li Kaifu and Wang Xiaochuan, leading figures in China's AI industry, are signaling a strategic shift, marking the end of the first phase of the large language model (LLM) startup boom. Li's 01.AI, once seen as a potential "Chinese OpenAI," is now pivoting towards enterprise applications and Agent technology, explicitly modeling itself after the低调但 profitable Palantir with a goal of profitability by 2026. Wang's Baichuan Intelligence is fully转战ing the vertical field of healthcare, launching a medical LLM and AI doctor product. This reflects a broader industry清醒. The initial狂热 of 2023, with its focus on chasing参数, benchmarks, and the "Chinese OpenAI" narrative, has collided with the harsh reality of an AI "heavy industry" war dominated by immense capital expenditure from US tech giants (微软, Google, etc.) and Chinese互联网大厂. The cost of competing in foundational模型 has become prohibitively high for most startups. The paths of the original "Six Tigers" have diverged: some like智谱 and MiniMax achieved high valuations via IPOs, effectively closing the capital window for new通用模型 players. Others, like 01.AI and Baichuan, are retreating from the通用模型 race to focus on商业化 and垂直场景. The deeper change is China's AI sector accepting that its comparative advantage may not lie in foundational model突破 but in applications, engineering, commercialization speed, and integrating AI into real-world industrial and user scenarios—turning AI into a viable industry. Li and Wang, veterans from the互联网 era, represent a generation that entered with理想主义 but is now pragmatically adjusting to reality. Their strategic转身 signifies a交棒 from the狂热造神 phase to a more mature stage focused on sustainable business,合同, and现金流. This isn't a story of failure, but a体面告别 to unrealistic expectations, with the long-term battle ahead passed to a new generation of AI-native builders.

marsbit05/29 01:30

Li Kaifu and Wang Xiaochuan Pivot: The First Half of the Large Model Entrepreneurship Era Ends

marsbit05/29 01:30

A History of Technological Evolution Powered by Electricity: Aluminum, Bitcoin, and AI

The journey from the Rockdale aluminum smelter in Texas to space-based data centers illustrates a core economic principle: whoever controls the cheapest electricity dictates the use of computing power. The evolution is clear. Old industrial sites with pre-existing, high-capacity power grids are being repurposed. In Rockdale, a former Alcoa plant now houses vast Bitcoin mining rigs, which are increasingly being replaced by AMD chips for AI training. The logic is purely financial: while smelting aluminum yields $0.17–0.27 per kWh and Bitcoin mining $0.05–0.11, AI inference on H100 GPUs generates $1.27–3.67 per kWh. Recent deals confirm the rush for power infrastructure. Riot Platforms leases space to AMD; TeraWulf bought an old Kentucky aluminum plant for its grid; NYDIG secured a New York site for its cheap hydropower to mine Bitcoin. As AI giants like Anthropic, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon aggressively expand, they now directly compete with crypto miners for the same industrial power resources, often outbidding them. This has led to a decline in Bitcoin's global hash rate and a wave of miner conversions to AI data centers. This "digital resource curse" extends globally. Gulf nations, long offering subsidized power to attract heavy industry like aluminum, are now pivoting to become AI and cloud computing hubs—exporting computational power instead of physical commodities. Similarly, Bhutan halted its sovereign Bitcoin mining to sell hydropower directly to India for a steadier return. The frontier is space. Projects like Starcloud plan orbital solar-powered data centers, leveraging constant sunlight and natural cooling, with Bitcoin mining as a secondary use for surplus power. Even consumer brands are transforming; Allbirds shifted from footwear to AI infrastructure, causing its stock to surge. Meanwhile, crypto projects like Bittensor, Render, and Akash propose a decentralized alternative, creating markets to aggregate distributed, idle computing resources from individual hardware. The underlying infrastructure—the power grid—remains constant. As profit margins shift, the facilities built upon it will continue to evolve, from aluminum to Bitcoin to AI and beyond, always chasing the highest yield per kilowatt-hour, whether in Texas, Abu Dhabi, or low Earth orbit.

marsbit05/26 10:09

A History of Technological Evolution Powered by Electricity: Aluminum, Bitcoin, and AI

marsbit05/26 10:09

Bitcoin Mining Network Collapsing Into AI At Record Pace, Analyst Warns

Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards warns that Bitcoin mining companies are rapidly pivoting to AI, with mining revenue expected to plunge from 90% to just 30% within 2-3 years. Major public miners have announced significant shifts into AI compute, though currently AI contributes only about 13% of their revenue on average. However, by 2027-2028, most companies target AI becoming their primary income source. Stocks of miners targeting over 80% AI revenue have surged over 500% on average, far outperforming others. This transition may be weakening energy allocation to Bitcoin's network, as evidenced by a recent decline in the Bitcoin hashrate. Despite this, Bitcoin's price remains strong at around $76,200, up 5.5% over the past week. Edwards concludes that the world's largest computing network is "collapsing into AI at record pace."

bitcoinist04/18 05:01

Bitcoin Mining Network Collapsing Into AI At Record Pace, Analyst Warns

bitcoinist04/18 05:01

The Allbirds, the Internet-Famous Shoes That Took Silicon Valley by Storm, Are Now All in on AI

Allbirds, the once-popular sustainable shoe brand favored by Silicon Valley elites and celebrities, has announced a drastic pivot from footwear manufacturing to AI infrastructure. On April 15, 2026, the company revealed plans to abandon its shoe business entirely, rebrand as "NewBird AI," and focus on GPU-as-a-service and AI cloud solutions. The move caused its stock to surge over 800% in a single day. The brand, known for its wool-based eco-friendly shoes, had struggled financially in recent years. Revenue fell from a peak of $298 million in 2022 to $152 million in 2025, with cumulative losses of $419 million over five years. In March 2026, Allbirds sold its intellectual property and footwear assets for just $39 million—a fraction of its former $4.1 billion valuation. The company secured up to $50 million in convertible notes to fund the acquisition of GPU hardware for AI compute leasing. However, the announcement lacked details about technical capacity, clients, or infrastructure plans. Critics highlight the high execution risks in the competitive AI infrastructure market, dominated by major cloud providers. The shift reflects a broader trend of companies rebranding around AI to attract investor interest, despite uncertain fundamentals. Allbirds also removed its "public benefit" corporate mission, signaling a departure from its original sustainability ethos. The move underscores the power of AI narrative in today’s capital markets, where storytelling often precedes substance.

marsbit04/16 02:13

The Allbirds, the Internet-Famous Shoes That Took Silicon Valley by Storm, Are Now All in on AI

marsbit04/16 02:13

Silicon Valley Startup Guru Steve Blank: In the AI Era, Companies Over Two Years Old Should Start Over

Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Blank argues that startups founded over two years ago are likely operating with outdated business plans due to rapid AI-driven changes. He emphasizes that AI is reshaping development speed, team structures, pricing models, and competitive moats. Startups must reassess their strategies, as AI tools enable faster MVP development, shift bottlenecks from engineering to judgment and distribution, and transform software from user interfaces to outcome-driven agents. Hardware startups are also affected, with AI accelerating design testing and integration. Blank warns against sunk cost mentalities and urges founders to pivot using current tools and market realities to survive. Key shifts include moving from product-market fit to AI agent-customer outcome fit and embracing parallel development over traditional agile methods.

marsbit04/16 02:02

Silicon Valley Startup Guru Steve Blank: In the AI Era, Companies Over Two Years Old Should Start Over

marsbit04/16 02:02

The AI Cycle Is Here: Should Web3 Entrepreneurs Pivot to AI?

The article discusses whether Web3 entrepreneurs should pivot to AI amid the growing AI trend, using the metaphor of "raising lobsters" to symbolize the current hype. It notes that while Web3 projects are exploring AI agents for blockchain interactions, identity systems, and payments, many teams are merely chasing narratives rather than building sustainable products. The author cautions against abrupt shifts to AI, highlighting the high barriers, intense competition, and the risk of abandoning hard-earned Web3 expertise. Instead, they suggest a hybrid approach: leveraging Web3’s strengths—such as decentralized data verification, identity management, and micro-payment systems—to address AI’s unresolved challenges like data provenance, agent collaboration, and automated settlements. Key considerations for Web3 teams include assessing their core competencies (e.g., data infrastructure, identity protocols, or application layers), identifying real-world use cases with paying users, and evaluating existing resources (data networks, developer ecosystems) to avoid building in isolation. The goal is to abandon narrative-driven pivots and focus on practical integrations where crypto and AI complement each other.

marsbit03/19 00:33

The AI Cycle Is Here: Should Web3 Entrepreneurs Pivot to AI?

marsbit03/19 00:33

Stargate Project Pivots: OpenAI Abandons Construction for Leasing, Wakes from 1.4 Trillion Compute Empire Dream

OpenAI has significantly restructured its ambitious Stargate project, shifting from a plan to build its own data centers to leasing computing power from cloud providers like Microsoft Azure, Oracle, and Amazon AWS. Initially announced in January 2025 with a projected investment of up to $1.4 trillion, the project's budget has been reduced by 57% to around $600 billion through 2030. The change comes after more than a year of delays, with no employees hired and no construction started, largely due to lenders' reluctance to finance the project given OpenAI’s ongoing substantial operating losses. The restructured Stargate is now organized into three teams overseeing commercial partnerships, technical engineering, and physical operations, all managed by former Intel executive Sachin Katti. Despite the shift in strategy, OpenAI still aims to deploy nearly 7 gigawatts of server capacity over three years, with investments totaling over $400 billion. The company is also developing its own AI chips in collaboration with Broadcom to reduce inference costs. Annual spending is projected to reach about $120 billion, matching Microsoft's yearly capital expenditure, even as OpenAI's revenue remains significantly lower and profitability is not expected before 2030.

marsbit03/17 13:08

Stargate Project Pivots: OpenAI Abandons Construction for Leasing, Wakes from 1.4 Trillion Compute Empire Dream

marsbit03/17 13:08

Recent Mass Shutdowns of DeFi Protocols: They All Have One Thing in Common

In recent months, multiple DeFi protocols have announced shutdowns, not due to exit scams but because of a lack of users, funding, or both. Projects like Angle Protocol, Polynomial, MilkyWay, and Step Finance—despite having functional products and significant past traction—were unable to sustain operations. Common challenges included an inability to attract liquidity (especially critical in derivatives), failure to achieve product-market fit, and high costs of expanding to new chains or narratives. Many teams pivoted repeatedly to chase trends like restaking or real-world assets but ran out of capital before finding sustainable demand. Others, like ZeroLend, suffered from deploying on smaller blockchains that lost liquidity during market downturns. Despite these failures, the projects shut down responsibly, allowing users to withdraw funds and avoiding reckless token launches—a sign of industry maturation compared to the reckless exits of 2022.

marsbit03/06 09:31

Recent Mass Shutdowns of DeFi Protocols: They All Have One Thing in Common

marsbit03/06 09:31

Another Bitcoin Miner Shifts To AI: Core Scientific Offloads 1,900 BTC

Core Scientific, one of the world's largest public Bitcoin miners, is accelerating its strategic pivot toward artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC). According to its recent SEC filing, the company sold 1,900 BTC in January 2025 for $175 million, reducing its holdings from 2,537 BTC to just 630 BTC. It expects to sell substantially all remaining Bitcoin in Q1 2026. The firm has reduced its operational hashrate from 20.1 EH/s to 17.9 EH/s and does not plan further large-scale mining equipment purchases. Instead, capital is being redirected toward HPC infrastructure. This shift reflects a broader industry trend, with other major miners like Bitfarms and Bitdeer also transitioning toward data centers and AI compute services. Bitfarms’ CEO stated that converting even a small site to GPU-as-a-service could generate more income than its entire Bitcoin mining history. Despite the strategic shift, Core Scientific remains a top-10 public Bitcoin miner. Bitcoin is currently trading around $68,200.

bitcoinist03/04 11:42

Another Bitcoin Miner Shifts To AI: Core Scientific Offloads 1,900 BTC

bitcoinist03/04 11:42

Bitcoin Miner Cango Sells 4,451 BTC In Strategic AI Pivot

Bitcoin miner Cango has sold 4,451 BTC for approximately $305 million in USDT, using the proceeds to partially repay a Bitcoin-collateralized loan. The sale is part of a strategic shift toward AI compute services, leveraging its global infrastructure to provide distributed computing capacity for the AI industry. While maintaining its Bitcoin mining operations—currently ranked joint third-largest globally—Cango plans a phased entry into AI, starting with serving small and medium enterprises and later developing a software orchestration platform. The company has appointed a former Zoom executive as CTO for its AI business. This move mirrors similar pivots by other miners, like Bitfarms, toward AI-focused ventures. Bitcoin is currently trading around $68,900.

bitcoinist02/11 05:02

Bitcoin Miner Cango Sells 4,451 BTC In Strategic AI Pivot