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From Hype To Hyperscale In AI

Recorded: Dec. 2, 2025, 12:03 p.m.

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From Hype To Hyperscale In AI | AdExchanger

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Home AdExchanger Talks From Hype To Hyperscale In AI

PODCAST: AdExchanger Talks
From Hype To Hyperscale In AI By Allison Schiff

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025 – 6:00 am
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A podcast interview with
Ikkjin Ahn
CEO & Co-Founder


Nearly every ad tech company is out there promising some form of AI-powered magic. The vendor landscape is turning into a sea of sameness.
So what’s worthwhile and what’s worth chucking in the bin?
The best way to separate AI hype from reality is to roll up your sleeves and try out the tech for yourself, says Ikkjin Ahn, CEO and co-founder of machine learning-based ad tech startup Moloco, on this week’s episode of AdExchanger Talks.

It’s like watching a movie, he says. How do you know if it’s good before you even try it?
But there are certain elements that separate serious contenders from the rest of the pack, he says, and one of the biggest is the ability to perform at massive scale.
You can build “toy examples” very easily with generative AI, Ahn says, but “the key differentiator is how much you can feed the volume, how much scale you can achieve.”
That’s where AI hyperscale comes in, which involves running AI on huge, cloud-style infrastructure. It’s a mix of ultra-fast hardware and optimized software that’s been trained to power AI models faster and more efficiently than regular computers.
Moloco uses AI Hypercomputer, which is Google’s branded end-to-end supercomputing stack. It runs on Google Cloud and allows Moloco to process billions of requests a day at 10x speed and relatively low cost.

Online advertising is evolving from a reliance on carefully engineered features and audience segments to harnessing the power of these “foundational models” that can learn from huge volumes of raw data, Ahn says.
It’s a process, though.

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While generative AI models are currently pretty good at answering questions, most are way too slow and expensive to meet the needs of real-time advertising, he says, which demands more powerful models that can operate instantly and affordably.
“Think about how long it takes to get an answer from ChatGPT,” Ahn says. “If your recommendation or sponsored search ad is taking three seconds, I mean, that’s a problem. And if any ad tech companies say, ‘Hey, I’ll burn like, what, $3 billion per quarter – that is not an answer, right?”
Also in this episode: How Moloco started its DSP business using Google’s display ad network as a test bed, how AI can help democratize commerce media beyond giants like Amazon and the role of creative automation in streamlining digital ad production.
For more articles featuring Ikkjin Ahn, click here.

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© 2025 Access Intelligence, LLC - All Rights Reserved

This AdExchanger Talk podcast transcript, featuring Ikkjin Ahn of Moloco, offers a valuable perspective on the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence within the digital advertising industry. The core message centers around the shift from theoretical AI “magic” to the demonstrable power of “AI hyperscale,” emphasizing the critical need for substantial computational resources to effectively harness the potential of large language models. Ahn correctly identifies a key differentiator – the ability to process massive volumes of data – as a crucial element for separating genuine progress from marketing hype. The discussion highlights Moloco’s use of Google’s AI Hypercomputer, illustrating a practical application of this concept and highlighting the costs associated with attempting to meet real-time advertising demands with slower, less scalable approaches. The podcast touches upon the limitations of current models, emphasizing the need for faster, more affordable solutions that can operate in real-time, while also briefly addressing topics such as brand influence on large language models and broader trends in the ad tech ecosystem, including the acquisition of Place Exchange. Reflecting the broader AdExchanger audience, the transcript incorporates references to ongoing industry debates, such as transparency concerns within CTV, and coverage of related news items including Omnicom’s shift in spending, and Meta’s perennial holiday platform glitches.