The priced unit in a negotiated compute deal is a specific commitment: an accelerator and memory configuration × a quantity × a term × a region × a delivery schedule × an SLA × a prepay structure × the terms negotiated alongside price. Two quotes with the same headline rate can be materially different deals — the headline-rate-versus-effective-cost point is made once, here: everything below is about the dimensions that carry that difference.
The ruling of record (2026-08-24) binds the check to this dimension set: the parsed deal renders as the structured commitment record, correctable before the read runs, and the read compares per dimension— your value · the observed range or bucket where tier-disclosed data exists · “not held” where it doesn’t. What each dimension means commercially, and what the check reads today:
| Dimension | What it prices, commercially | What the check reads today |
|---|---|---|
| Accelerator + memory configuration | Which chip, which memory class and size, which form factor — an H100 SXM 80GB and an H100 PCIe are different priced units. | Read: the accelerator against a fixed model registry (off-registry names are stated, never guessed) and the interconnect where stated. Memory configuration is read only incidentally inside model strings — its promotion to a first-class field is ruled (2026-08-24) and lands with a versioned parse change. |
| Quantity | GPU count and node shape. Price per unit moves with scale; so does the delivery question. | Read: the quoted count, bounds-checked. |
| Term | Commitment length and start date — the difference between spot exposure and a multi-year obligation. | Read: term in months, bounds-checked. Register comparison buckets term as spot / 6mo / 12mo / 24mo with no cross-term inference, ever. |
| Region | Where the capacity physically sits — power cost, latency, data-residency and the available supply all differ by region. | Read: the stated region. Register comparison narrows to region only when BOTH sides state one and they normalise equal — disclosed either way. |
| Delivery schedule | When the capacity actually arrives — immediate, staged ramp, or a dated future window. A cheap price for capacity that arrives late prices a different thing. | Read: today it lands in the co-negotiated-terms bucket; its promotion to a first-class field is ruled (2026-08-24) and lands with a versioned parse change. |
| SLA | Uptime commitment, service credits, remedies — what happens when the capacity fails. | Read: the stated SLA phrase. |
| Prepay | Payment schedule and prepaid fraction — a 25% prepay changes the effective cost of the same headline rate. | Read: the stated prepay/payment-schedule phrase. |
| Co-negotiated terms | Everything else the deal settles: power passthrough, egress, termination rights, upgrade clauses, quantity flexibility, support tier. | Read: up to ten further material terms, kept verbatim as the residual bucket and scanned against the customary-terms checklist below. |
The check reads every paste against this registry — the assessment-specification field template — and marks each item present ●, absent ○, or excluded ⊘ (the quote expressly refuses it or carves it out of the price — disclosed, never credited as settled) in the reply. A quote that settles only price and quantity has left most of the commitment’s value terms unwritten:
Every comparison is deterministic arithmetic over dated stored records — one model call reads your text, and no model ever writes a market figure. The published v1 rules:
Where The Grid holds no tier-disclosed observations for a dimension, the read says “not held” — no bucket is invented, no figure is imputed, and nothing is papered over to make the reply look fuller. That is the same minimum-observation discipline the daily print runs under: a day below the floor renders WITHHELD, never a carried-forward number.
“Not held” is also the invitation: a confirmed submission is the thing that opens a class — the first dated observation of its kind in the record, sealed into the chained ledger. The comparison you get is built from the contributions of buyers before you; the check is where both halves of that bargain happen.