---
title: "Subsidy clock: what it means · The AI Compute Race · DRYBURGH"
source: https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/subsidy-clock
description: "Subsidy clock: How long tokens can be sold below what they cost to make, which for the heaviest users they are…"
---

# Subsidy clock

What does “Subsidy clock” mean?

Subsidy clockHow long tokens can be sold below what they cost to make, which for the heaviest users they are, for as long as equity is cheap enough to fund the difference. It is the third clock inside the forward bet on revenue, after the lenders’ and the revenue’s. *Chapter 11.*

From *The AI Compute Race*. [Read the book](https://dryburgh.com/vol1#buy)

The book uses this term in a sense of its own.

## Where the book uses it

- [Chapter 11 — What the Machine Has to Earn](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/notes/chapter-11)The revenue the buildout needs against the revenue it has, on whose clock the gap must close, and the two ceilings on what AI can earn.

## Related terms

- [Clock](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/clock)
- [Adoption clock](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/adoption-clock)
- [Gross margin](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/gross-margin)
- [Run rate](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/run-rate)

From the glossary of The AI Compute Race.

- [Campuses](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/ledger)
- [Tests](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/tests)
- [Scorecard](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/scorecard)
- [Data](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/data/releases)
- [Chapter by chapter](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/companion)
- [The record at a glance](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/observatory)
- [The machine](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/machine)
- [One campus, four futures](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/hyperion)
- [Glossary](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary)
- [People](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/people)
- [Sources](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/sources)
- [Notes](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/notes)
- [Where the book was wrong](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/corrections)
- [Where its sources were wrong](https://dryburgh.com/corrections?book=vol1)
- [The Paper](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/paper)
- [Consent](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/consent)
- [Who builds and pays](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/parties)

*The AI Compute Race: Five Races, One Machine* is a book by Lee S. Dryburgh, the first volume of THE COMPUTE ECONOMY, published by Dryburgh, an imprint of Contestra OÜ, Tallinn, Estonia; its record closes on 8 November 2026.

[About the book](https://dryburgh.com/vol1)[Tell me when it is out](https://dryburgh.com/vol1#notify)