WD

AI inference's hidden storage costs: data volumes surge

The storage costs of back-end data from AI inference are often overlooked and grow rapidly with inference scale. WD measurements show an 8-second video with a 3.97MB output file left over 500MB of associated back-end data, a 130x increase. In an IDC survey, nearly 95% of respondents reported data volume growth due to generative AI in the past year. McKinsey projects inference demand will grow at a 35% CAGR through 2030, exceeding 40% of total data center demand.