Massive demand from AI data centers drives up computer memory prices - NPR
npr.org
AI data centers are so hungry for memory that chip prices are rising — a rare real-world challenge to the rule that tech always gets cheaper.
Moore's LawSupply and DemandCommodity Market TheoryEconomies of Scale
Theory Briefing
- AI data center demand is pushing computer memory prices up, bucking the long-held expectation that tech gets cheaper over time.
- The trend challenges Moore's Law-adjacent thinking — that computing power reliably falls in cost as it scales.
- Memory chips are a bottleneck resource for AI infrastructure, making them behave more like a scarce commodity than a mass-market consumer good.
- When a single industry's appetite dominates a market, standard deflationary tech trends can reverse — at least temporarily.