November 6, 2025
Boots, boos, and GPUs
We built a cloud GPU notebook that boots in seconds
Instant GPU notebooks spark cheers, eye-rolls, and cries for a free tier
TLDR: Modal launched a cloud notebook that spins up powerful graphics chips in seconds and raised $87M. Commenters split between hype and skepticism: some demand a generous free tier and tutorials to win beginners, while others ask whether boot time matters when pros already run code fast on their own machines.
Modal just dropped a flashy promise: a cloud notebook that spins up GPUs in seconds with real-time collaboration, and they’ve got cash to prove it — an $87M raise from Lux. Think Google Docs for code, powered by big graphics chips, minus the long wait. The engineering blog dives deep, but the comments turned it into a reality show. One voice rolled in with meme energy — “Is this the Hacker News version of ‘I am Groot’?” — then argued the real unlock isn’t milliseconds, it’s a generous free tier and creator bankrolls to teach CUDA/Mojo beginners. Translation: win the crowd, not just the benchmark.
Then came the skeptics: “When did booting time become a problem to solve?” If pros already have fast home rigs and let ChatGPT draft their kernels, is “seconds” even a selling point? Fans still swooned — “This looks awesome!” — calling instant spin-up and collaboration a breath of fresh air compared to clunky dev boxes. The thread’s vibe: speed vs. substance. Is Modal’s magic the future of shareable ML demos and team workflows, or a shiny demo without the on-ramps? Either way, the product’s got everyone talking — and the $87M keeps the spotlight blazing.
Key Points
- •Modal launched Modal Notebooks, a cloud Jupyter environment that boots GPUs and custom images in seconds with real-time collaboration.
- •The system relies on the Jupyter kernel protocol to manage code execution and streaming outputs in a multi-tenant cloud GPU setup.
- •Compute runs inside Modal Sandboxes—secure, isolated processes with fast startup, dedicated resources, and lifecycle control.
- •Sandboxes support high-performance workloads, including Nvidia GPUs, hundreds of CPUs, large disks, and a lazy-loading, content-addressed FUSE filesystem.
- •Modal Sandboxes are offered as primitives for others; external use cases include Lovable, and the page notes Modal’s $87M Series B led by Lux Capital.