---
title: "Are Today’s Top Models Already Toast?"
newsletter: "MLOps Community"
date: 2025-08-14
source: https://aaif.live/newsletters/mlopscommunity/2025-08-14-are-today-s-top-models-already-toast
---

# Are Today’s Top Models Already Toast?

*Plus, the “Agentic Cloud” that could unseat the hyperscalers, Hidden Gems, and ML Confessions.*

*MLOps Community — Agentic AI Foundation, 2025-08-14*

It’s timely, given something that came up in the podcast, that AOL has announced they’re hanging up on dial-up internet.

If you miss the good old days, check out this site [https://www.dialupsound.com/] - then switch off your modem for the full effect of someone in the house making a phone call.

## The Next Asset to Depreciate?

On the pod this week, today’s top models were called “the fastest depreciating assets in tech.” After reading this week’s blog, I’m wondering - how long before the cloud giants’ software layer gets the same treatment?

## Hidden Gems

## The Truth About LLM Training

Ever wondered how to pick the right model when a new “best-ever” drops every week? Paul and Zulkuf share how they cut through hype with private eval sets, LLM-as-a-judge scoring, and leaderboards that expose real performance.

 * Model evaluation – task-specific benchmarks in multiple languages, kept fresh to avoid training set contamination.
 * GPU strategy – spiky training runs demand on-demand flexibility, while inference needs steady capacity with scale-down options.
 * Cost control – fine-tuned models replace costly APIs without sacrificing performance.

Together, these form a no-nonsense blueprint for picking winners, cutting costs, and staying ahead of the model churn.

Video [https://go.mlops.community/pzg14aug] || Spotify [https://go.mlops.community/szg14aug] || Apple [https://go.mlops.community/azg14aug]


THE AGENTIC CLOUD: FORGING THE NEXT ERA OF INFRASTRUCTURE

The “Agentic Cloud” could shift power away from today’s hyperscalers by replacing their sprawling service catalogs with intent-driven agents that design, deploy, and run infrastructure across any provider. It’s a vision that trades centralization for intelligence-driven decentralization.

Here’s what that shift looks like:

 * Architecture - Agents handle specification, provisioning, deployment, and autonomous maintenance.
 * Business model - Cloud providers reduced to commodity hardware while agent intelligence captures the value.
 * Challenges - Reliability, security, state management, and integrating messy real-world systems.

A potential playbook for dismantling the cloud’s “fortress” and redistributing its power.

Read the blog [https://go.mlops.community/blog14aug]


IN PERSON EVENTS

 * Melbourne [https://lu.ma/90ac8pfd] - August 14
 * Denver [https://lu.ma/kebs46ij] - August 19
 * Silicon Valley [https://lu.ma/iqqtod4j] - August 19
 * Cape Town [https://lu.ma/tjht05sf] - August 21

[Video](https://go.mlops.community/pzg14aug)

## Job of the Week

[https://go.mlops.community/ROWJ14AUG](https://go.mlops.community/ROWJ14AUG)

## One Bad Benchmark, Total Carnage

[https://go.mlops.community/MLConfess](https://go.mlops.community/MLConfess)

## Making the hard stuff simpler

Working on something tricky or planning ahead? Here’s how we can help - just hit reply:

 * Custom workshops tailored to your company’s needs
 * Hiring? I know some quality folks looking for a new adventure
 * Want to connect with someone tackling similar problems? I can introduce you

Thanks for reading, catch you next time!

---
Source: https://aaif.live/newsletters/mlopscommunity/2025-08-14-are-today-s-top-models-already-toast