Vera Rubin to Google - commit to a bounded duration (at most 3 weeks after node access), not a date, and invite Google to supply its own hardware

Situation

Replying to Tissa request for Vera Rubin timelines, Peter wrote that NVIDIA has committed lab time but cannot confirm when; once CIQ has a node it needs at most 3 weeks to validate Rocky, ensure full functionality and performance, and fix issues; CIQ will update as soon as it has visibility; and if Google has a node it could provide, CIQ would happily do the 3 weeks on that instead.

Reasoning

Confirmed by Peter. The start date is NVIDIA, not CIQ, so Peter committed only to the controllable part - a bounded duration from access - which is honest and still plannable for Google during budgeting. The 3-week ceiling sits at Nathan realistic floor, with Sultan pre-work as cushion. Offering to use Google hardware moves the bottleneck off scarce NVIDIA lab time while both GCE and GDC are asking.

Additional Context

Open question not resolved in review: Peter expects roughly a 5-day NVIDIA window, so 3 weeks implies either a second window or Google hardware.

Observed Evidence

Email to Tissa 9/30 with a 3-week ceiling and the Google-hardware offer.

Matching Patterns

Confidence Breakdown

Reasoning Depth Analysis