--- 格式版本: 2 标题: "The network is becoming AI's hidden bottleneck, even carriers know it" 原文链接: "https://www.sdxcentral.com/analysis/the-network-is-becoming-ais-hidden-bottleneck-even-carriers-know-it/" 发布日期: "2026-08-26" 发布时间校准状态: "found" 发布时间需复核: "否" 发布时间来源: "llm:local:strict_original_body" 发布时间证据: "August 26, 2026 By Ben Wodecki Have your say" 发布时间校准原因: "正文标题附近明确标注作者及日期 August 26, 2026，属于文章发布时间优先级最高的证据，且与发现时间相符。" 发布时间校准置信度: "1" 发布时间候选数量: 28 发布时间严格候选数量: 9 发布时间原页读取状态: "source template page reused from URL open" 发布时间未找到原因: "" 发布时间校准时间: "2026-08-28T15:53:12+08:00" 发布时间仲裁状态: "confirmed" 发布时间仲裁尝试次数: 1 发布时间仲裁耗时毫秒: 56446 发现时间: "2026-08-28T15:48:58+08:00" 入库时间: "2026-08-28T07:54:49.715Z" 来源平台: "SDxCentral 搜索" 搜索渠道: "source_template" 搜索词: "site:sdxcentral.com inference networking" 匹配关键词: - "CPO" - "AI" - "GPU" - "Vera Rubin" - "performance" - "latency" - "bandwidth" 相关厂家: - "NVIDIA" - "AMD" - "Meta" 相关专家: [] 内容类型: "网页" 抓取工具: "Jina Reader" 清洗工具: "Jina Reader Markdown + Defuddle/Readability 正文提取" 原始附件: [] AI优质: "否" AI打分: 50 AI分档: "非优质" AI质检状态: "不通过" AI打分理由: "正文主线是Verizon高管讨论AI推理流量对运营商网络、边缘和分布式计算的压力，并非机架级AI系统。SDxCentral属专业媒体且有直接采访；相较历史库中已发布的Vera Rubin、Helios等机架平台，本文新增的是Omdia预测的AI网络需求至2030年复合增长120%、单用户推理请求约需1—10 Mb/s及“网络货币”观点，但没有新机架架构、协议标准、产品发布、工程实测或明确部署里程碑。命中泛趋势分析否决，当前页面虽完整可追溯，但不足以进入高质量库。" AI质检模型: "gpt-5.6-sol" AI质检时间: "2026-08-28T15:54:59+08:00" AI主题相关性: 8 AI来源权威性: 12 AI新颖性: 8 AI技术细节: 9 AI商业部署信号: 3 AI完整性: 10 AI评分提示词版本: "v17-精简生产版" AI评分提示词SHA256: "48fb9777f386026761b4873eaff30807694fb11e9b352d7c69bf2dfde750cc7d" AI评分知识库版本: "knowledge_base_v1-20260819+runtime.15" AI评分知识库SHA256: "f857905c21b8b0cb5b96be8a561d5428dc9c83bfa2b6ad36156c5a61fe4e50f9" AI评分知识库检索词: "[\"CPO\",\"inference networking\",\"site:sdxcentral.com inference networking\",\"Vera Rubin\",\"Rubin\",\"rack-scale\",\"RAS\",\"GPU\",\"NVIDIA\",\"Meta\",\"AMD\",\"Intel\"]" AI评分知识库命中: "[{\"id\":\"july-correct-0034\",\"title\":\"AMD Fires Back at Nvidia with Helios AI System, Epyc CPUs\",\"sourceType\":\"labeled_article\",\"time\":\"2026-07\",\"matchedTerms\":[\"Vera Rubin\",\"Rubin\",\"rack-scale\",\"RAS\",\"GPU\",\"NVIDIA\",\"Meta\",\"AMD\",\"Intel\"],\"rank\":-19.221494327722997},{\"id\":\"historical-jan-apr-02\",\"title\":\"二、Google Cloud Next '26：AI Hypercomputer 与第八代 TPU 发布\",\"sourceType\":\"curated_item\",\"time\":\"2026-01_to_2026-04\",\"matchedTerms\":[\"Vera Rubin\",\"Rubin\",\"rack-scale\",\"GPU\",\"NVIDIA\",\"Meta\",\"AMD\",\"Intel\"],\"rank\":-16.673573172494372},{\"id\":\"july-correct-0020\",\"title\":\"NVIDIA Vera Rubin：引領代理 AI 的時代\",\"sourceType\":\"labeled_article\",\"time\":\"2026-07\",\"matchedTerms\":[\"Vera Rubin\",\"Rubin\",\"RAS\",\"GPU\",\"NVIDIA\",\"Meta\"],\"rank\":-14.94973111560234},{\"id\":\"july-correct-0079\",\"title\":\"AAI 2026: AMD Launches AMD Helios Rackscale Solution for Frontier AI\",\"sourceType\":\"labeled_article\",\"time\":\"2026-07\",\"matchedTerms\":[\"Vera Rubin\",\"Rubin\",\"rack-scale\",\"RAS\",\"GPU\",\"NVIDIA\",\"AMD\",\"Intel\"],\"rank\":-14.14893429366537},{\"id\":\"july-correct-0015\",\"title\":\"AMD to join the optical interconnect party with 2027 Instinct GPUs\",\"sourceType\":\"labeled_article\",\"time\":\"2026-07\",\"matchedTerms\":[\"CPO\",\"rack-scale\",\"GPU\",\"NVIDIA\",\"Meta\",\"AMD\"],\"rank\":-13.18031658034911}]" AI摘要: "Verizon Business首席产品官Scott Lawrence警告，随着美国数据中心容量未来五年翻倍，网络正成为AI基础设施中被忽视的瓶颈；AI网络需求预计到2030年将保持120%的复合年增长率。" AI摘要模型: "ali-deepseek-v4-flash" AI摘要时间: "2026-09-07T02:08:43.590Z" 采集批次: "2026年8月28日15点43分49秒" 采集批次ID: "20260828-154349-286" 去重键: "https://www.sdxcentral.com/analysis/the-network-is-becoming-ais-hidden-bottleneck-even-carriers-know-it" --- Title: The network is becoming AI's hidden bottleneck, even carriers know it URL Source: https://www.sdxcentral.com/analysis/the-network-is-becoming-ais-hidden-bottleneck-even-carriers-know-it/ Markdown Content: This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. [Learn more](https://www.cookiesandyou.com/) [Got it!](https://www.sdxcentral.com/analysis/the-network-is-becoming-ais-hidden-bottleneck-even-carriers-know-it/) # * Channels * [The AI Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/ai/) * [The Networking Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/network-sdn/) * [The Cybersecurity Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/security/) * [The Distributed Infrastructure Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/distributed-infrastructure/) * [The Telecom Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/telecom-nfv/) * [The Silicon & Supercomputing Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/storage-silicon/) * [The Cloud & Storage Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/cloud/) * Media * [News](https://www.sdxcentral.com/news/) * [Analysis](https://www.sdxcentral.com/analysis/) * [Editors' Views](https://www.sdxcentral.com/control-plane/) * [Industry Views](https://www.sdxcentral.com/opinions/) * [Video Interviews](https://www.sdxcentral.com/video-interviews/) * [Broadcasts](https://www.sdxcentral.com/broadcasts/) * [On Demand Broadcasts](https://www.sdxcentral.com/broadcasts/past/) * [Explainers](https://www.sdxcentral.com/sdx-explainers/) * [MarketWatch](https://www.sdxcentral.com/marketwatch/) * [Press Releases](https://www.sdxcentral.com/press-releases/) * [Resources](https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/) * Live Events * Xcelerated Compute Series * [The Xcelerated Compute Show | LDN 2026](https://www.xceleratedcompute.com/london/2026/) * [The Xcelerated Compute Show | MEX 2026](https://www.xceleratedcompute.com/cancun/2026/) * [The Xcelerated Compute Show | NYC 2027](https://www.xceleratedcompute.com/new-york/2027/) * Digital Infrastructure Series * [Yotta 2026](https://www.yotta-event.com/) * [Login / Create Account](https://www.sdxcentral.com/sdx-en/account/login/?next=%2Fanalysis%2Fthe-network-is-becoming-ais-hidden-bottleneck-even-carriers-know-it%2F) * [](https://www.sdxcentral.com/sdx-en/search/) Search * Show Menu * Channels * Back * [The AI Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/ai/) * [The Networking Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/network-sdn/) * [The Cybersecurity Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/security/) * [The Distributed Infrastructure Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/distributed-infrastructure/) * [The Telecom Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/telecom-nfv/) * [The Silicon & Supercomputing Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/storage-silicon/) * [The Cloud & Storage Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/cloud/) * Media * Back * [News](https://www.sdxcentral.com/news/) * [Analysis](https://www.sdxcentral.com/analysis/) * [Editors' Views](https://www.sdxcentral.com/control-plane/) * [Industry Views](https://www.sdxcentral.com/opinions/) * [Video Interviews](https://www.sdxcentral.com/video-interviews/) * [Broadcasts](https://www.sdxcentral.com/broadcasts/) * [On Demand Broadcasts](https://www.sdxcentral.com/broadcasts/past/) * [Explainers](https://www.sdxcentral.com/sdx-explainers/) * [MarketWatch](https://www.sdxcentral.com/marketwatch/) * [Press Releases](https://www.sdxcentral.com/press-releases/) * [Resources](https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/) * Live Events * Back * Xcelerated Compute Series * [The Xcelerated Compute Show | LDN 2026](https://www.xceleratedcompute.com/london/2026/) * [The Xcelerated Compute Show | MEX 2026](https://www.xceleratedcompute.com/cancun/2026/) * [The Xcelerated Compute Show | NYC 2027](https://www.xceleratedcompute.com/new-york/2027/) * Digital Infrastructure Series * [Yotta 2026](https://www.yotta-event.com/) Close modal ## Search Suggestions [READ: How Meta re-engineered its storage stack for AI](https://www.sdxcentral.com/resources/the-storage-supplement/) * [Home](https://www.sdxcentral.com/) * [Analysis](https://www.sdxcentral.com/analysis/) * [The Distributed Infrastructure Channel](https://www.sdxcentral.com/distributed-infrastructure/) # The network is becoming AI's hidden bottleneck, even carriers know it Verizon Business's CPO on why networks are the real unaddressed constraint August 26, 2026 By[Ben Wodecki](https://www.sdxcentral.com/profile/ben-wodecki/)[Have your say](https://www.sdxcentral.com/analysis/the-network-is-becoming-ais-hidden-bottleneck-even-carriers-know-it/#comments) [Facebook](https://www.sdxcentral.com/#facebook)[Twitter](https://www.sdxcentral.com/#twitter)[LinkedIn](https://www.sdxcentral.com/#linkedin)[Reddit](https://www.sdxcentral.com/#reddit)[Email](https://www.sdxcentral.com/#email)[Share](https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sdxcentral.com%2Fanalysis%2Fthe-network-is-becoming-ais-hidden-bottleneck-even-carriers-know-it%2F&title=The%20network%20is%20becoming%20AI%27s%20hidden%20bottleneck%2C%20even%20carriers%20know%20it%20-%20SDxCentral) ![Image 3: A network cable and optical fibers against a red background](./assets/img-178d32d1.jpg) – Getty Images Consensus is steadily growing when it comes to networks: it’s the next big thing in AI infrastructure. Having spent the last few years oogling at shiny graphics processing units (GPUs) and the recent reinvention of the central processing unit (CPU) as an agentic orchestration powerhouse, the thing keeping these connected has often been left to the wayside. But no longer, it seems. Nvidia, through [Spectrum-6](https://www.sdxcentral.com/news/nvidia-debuts-spectrum-6-switches-to-power-next-gen-ai-networking/), has been putting networks front and center of its next-generation Vera Rubin platform. And [AMD’s Helios](https://www.sdxcentral.com/news/amd-challenges-nvidias-networking-dominance-with-helios-racks-boasting-50-higher-bandwidth/) rack-scale platform boasts bandwidth levels that boggle the mind. But that’s inside the data center. Now the telecom players are getting in on the action, as without their fiber infrastructure, all the raw performance metrics in the world would matter for naught. “Data centers by themselves, without an interconnected network, are just buildings with a lot of expensive equipment in them,” Verizon Business Chief Product Officer Scott Lawrence said. In an interview with _SDxCentral_, the CPO warned that rethinking connectivity, “the network becomes a bottleneck,” even as data center capacity is set to double in the U.S. over the next five years. [](https://media.datacenterdynamics.com/media/images/images_wqjmdb2.original.jpg)![Image 4: Scott Lawrence, chief product officer (CPO) at Verizon Business](./assets/img-a04a6d62.jpg) Scott Lawrence, chief product officer at Verizon Business– Verizon Business Lawrence cited Omdia forecasts that AI network demand will grow at a 120% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between now and 2030, with a flood of AI traffic set to hit Verizon and other service providers like a freight train. And that traffic isn’t just human either. The rise of agentic AI – systems capable of performing tasks with little to no human intervention – represents the means to push traffic even higher. Since those agents rely on inference workloads processing vast amounts of data in real-time, demands on the network look nothing like the traffic patterns carriers have spent decades optimizing for. Lawrence pointed to a broader shift already underway inside data centers, with intra-cluster traffic tied to AI training more than doubled every six months for the past two years. “We're starting to see that shift toward AI inferencing, and even [Nvidia CEO] Jensen Huang at [GTC in March](https://www.sdxcentral.com/analysis/nvidia-gtc-2026-jensens-victory-lap-sees-lpu-debut-eclipsed-by-platform-vision/) commented that the inferencing inflection point has arrived," Lawrence said. "With that, you're going to see a more distributed compute model because you're going to need that distributed compute not only to serve specific use cases and industries but also to support agentic sprawl.” That shift changes what carriers like Verizon actually need to build for. Lawrence suggested a single inference prompt alone can require between one and 10 Mb/s per user. So multiply that by the roughly one billion weekly active ChatGPT users, and suddenly the scale of what's hitting the network becomes stark. The Verizon Business exec argued that new metrics are needed for key units of value to optimize for when it comes to networks beyond solely bandwidth. Among these “network currencies” are uplink capacity, which Laurence said is becoming more important as agents push data back into the network rather than just pulling it down. Another potential focus pertains to network slicing, a playbook straight out of the carrier playbook that lets providers carve out dedicated capacity for specific workloads. And another is latency-sensitive service level agreements (SLAs) like time-to-first-token – or how quickly a network can return the first piece of a model's response. But the network currency that players like Verizon are well placed to take advantage of is distributed compute. Not a new concept by any means, but given power constraints, the idea is gaining traction in the data center space beyond solely campus-to-campus connections. Suddenly, having disparate facilities separate by miles but working as one consolidated compute stack seems possible, and only so through effective fiber buildout. Again, this edge play is nothing new. Around a decade ago, multi-access edge computing (MEC) was the next big thing: placing compute and data storage directly at cellular base stations and local network edges. In Lawrence’s own words, Verizon was “the OG of MEC,” but the concept quickly went the way of the dinosaurs. Lawrence told _SDxCentral_ that the carrier “learned a lot” from [its work on MEC](https://www.sdxcentral.com/news/verizon-slashes-5g-latency-with-mec-equipment-software/). That work has helped feed into Verizon's [AI Connect strategy](https://www.verizon.com/business/solutions/ai-connect/), which integrates network transport, edge compute, and GPU infrastructure into a kind of AI-fit architecture. And while it’s been learning, a lot of the use cases hyped over a decade ago are now beginning to come to the fore. “A lot of the use cases that we saw at MEC are showcasing themselves now with data sovereignty or regulation … [like] gaming or gambling that needs to stay in a particular geography and requires that hyper-local compute," Lawrence said. But the resurgence of all things distributed comes with a caveat in the exec’s view in that the edge shouldn’t be seen as a single place anymore, and treating it as one risks missing where the real opportunity sits. “I think it's important to define the edge right, because the edge can be many different surfaces,” Lawrence said. “The edge could be on device, it could be on a customer prem, it could be a service provider edge, it could be in the service provider core, in our radio access network (RAN) environment, or it could be in a cloud environment.” When it comes to AI, that multiplicity is tied directly to a bet on where the device ecosystem is headed. “If we really believe that this smartphone is going to be the same device we're going to be using in five, 10, 50 years from now, I think that's a very unrealistic expectation,” Lawrence said. “In fact, many people are already calling that for the end of the smartphone, or the end of the era of the smartphone, because AI is going to bring new devices to the market that are inherently AI native and increasingly agentic: acting, deciding, and engaging autonomously.” Betting on device unpredictability in Lawrence's telling is exactly why the network ends up as the connective tissue holding the next phase of AI together and not the data center or the shiny chips they house. “It's not just about faster networks,” Lawrence concluded. “It's about intelligent proximity and monetizing relevance instead of just bandwidth.” Stay ahead of the latest distributed infrastructure channel trends. 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