Definition
Plain language
Cheap rented cloud computers that the provider can reclaim at any moment.
As stated in the literature
Discounted, preemptible cloud compute instances offered at lower cost in exchange for the provider's right to reclaim them; used to cut training-run costs in budget-sensitive research.
Also called: spot instance
Why it matters: They cut compute costs substantially, letting budget-limited researchers run experiments they otherwise couldn't afford.
For example, a lab can rent these cheap cloud machines for a training run and save money, as long as it can handle the provider reclaiming them mid-job.
Heard on the show
“A 128-sandbox training run, 240 hours of compute, on commodity spot instances.”Episode 047 — When Agent Benchmarks Lie: The Harness Problem in Open-Source AI