Can AI Replace Cloud Computing?

I saw an odd headline asking “when will AI replace cloud computing?” It’s a non-sequitur. Sort of like asking when a layer 7 function is replaced by a layer 1 function. In other words, AI exists at a different layer of the software stack.

OSI Model	AI/Cloud Layer
7. Application (user-facing apps)	AI Model Deployment & APIs4
6. Presentation (data formatting/encryption)	Data Preprocessing/Feature Engineering4
5. Session (connection management)	Cloud API Gateway Management2
4. Transport (data integrity)	Distributed Training Orchestration4
3. Network (routing)	Cloud Network Virtualization2
2. Data Link (node-to-node transfer)	GPU Cluster Interconnects2
1. Physical (hardware)	Cloud Infrastructure (GPUs/TPUs)

Saying AI replaces cloud computing is like saying "video games replace electricity." Cloud computing is infrastructure, supplying functions lower in the stack.