tante thinks come the bubble pop, surveillance bureaucracy will buy the now cheap rigs, cos they have a use for that much ML compute

I think you're right. There is this constant need for governments and the elite in general to keep tabs on the population. They need to detect dissidents that arranges protests, generate push back, are whistleblowers and just people who are somehow a threat to their power structures. Our online activities through phones and computers are presumably already surveilled and is used to profile us. Your LG tv is listening to everything you say by the way and I'm sure they are not alone. That combined with camera footage of physical activity/presence just fortifies their hold on the population further.