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Equation 17 · Part 9 · The Economics and Physical Limits of Running AI Agents at Scale

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ci=pin(τ+δ+(i−1)σ)+pout oˉc_i = p_{\text{in}}\big(\tau + \delta + (i-1)\sigma\big) + p_{\text{out}}\,\bar{o}
=

What this part means

The expressions on both sides represent the same quantity under the stated assumptions.

Its job in the formula

The equals sign connects the complete expression on the left with the complete expression on the right. Both sides must have compatible units.

The passage around this formula

Because the API is stateless between calls, step i in the loop must include, as ordinary input, everything that made it into the transcript through step i-1 : the tool results, the intermediate reasoning, the earlier outputs. Call the amount a single step permanently adds to that growing transcript σ\sigma — roughly δ\delta plus oˉ\bar{o} , since both the new material a step introduces and the output it produces become part of what every later step has to resend. Without caching, step i ’s input is not just τ\tau + δ\delta ; it is τ\tau + δ\delta plus the accumulated weight of every prior step, (i-1)σ\sigma : ci=pin(τ+δ+(i−1)σ)+pout oˉc_i = p_{\text{in}}\big(\tau + \delta + (i-1)\sigma\big) + p_{\text{out}}\,\bar{o}. Summed over an n -step trajectory, that gives

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Learn the underlying idea

An equals sign says that the expression on its left and the expression on its right have the same value under the stated definitions and assumptions.

Open the illustrated equality: what the equals sign claims guide →

Sources cited in the article section

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