RAM Prices Revert to 2007 Levels: Musk Says AI Demand Outpaces Supply
lemire · x · 2026-08-05
Computer scientist Daniel Lemire points out a historical anomaly: after decades of exponential decline, RAM prices on a per-unit basis are now as expensive as they were in 2007, undoing about 20 years of progress.
This is driven by a massive supply-demand imbalance. Speaking at a SpaceX earnings call, Elon Musk noted that while memory output is increasing by around 20% per year—fantastically fast for a mature industry—AI-driven demand is surging by 200% or more.
To overcome this infrastructure bottleneck, the author guesses the industry will either have to build AI systems that require less memory or find clever ways to manufacture memory much faster.
Related event: Musk: AI Compute Bottleneck is Memory(3 posts)→
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