i dont mean consumer market for video cards - i mean a consumer buying ai chips to run themselves so they can have it locally.

If i can buy a $10k ai card for less than $5000 dollars, i probably would, if i can use it to run an open model myself.

At that point it isn't a $10k card anymore, it's a $5k card. And possibly not a $5k card for very long in the scenario that the market has been flooded with them.

Ah well yes to a degree that’s possible but at least at the moment you’d still be better off buying a $5k Mac Studio if it’s just inference you’re doing

How many "yous" are there in the world? Probably a number that can buy what's inside one Azure DC?

Why would you do that when you can pay someone else to run the model for you on newer more efficient and more profitable hardware? What makes it profitable for you and not for them?

Control and privacy?

You need the hardware to wrap that in, and the power draw is going to be... significant.