AI Vocabulary · 02 AI Infrastructure

What is Cloud Computing?

Renting computing power, storage and software over the internet, on demand, instead of running your own machines.

Basic

With cloud computing, you use someone else's computers over the internet and pay for what you use. Most AI reaches you this way: through a chat app, an API or a platform running in a provider's data centre.

The most cited definition comes from the US standards institute NIST (2011). It names five essential characteristics: self-service on demand, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity and measured service. It distinguishes three service models:

• Software as a Service (SaaS): you use a finished application, such as a chat assistant.
• Platform as a Service (PaaS): you build on a provider's platform.
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): you rent raw servers, storage and networks.

It also names four deployment models: private, community, public and hybrid cloud.

Why it matters for you

The cloud lets you start with AI in minutes and without hardware. In return, your data runs on someone else's machines, under their terms and often under foreign law.

Own it

Decide per use case: public cloud for speed, EU regions or private cloud for sensitive data, self-hosting where control matters most. Keep contracts and data processing agreements on file.

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