AI is Driving a Memory Shortage & Detroit Wants to Revive the Sedan
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Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neil Freiman. And I'm Toby Howell. Today, the world is facing a memory shortage, and I don't remember what I was going to say next.
Then we'll explain looks maxing, mogging, and who clavicular is so you don't have to ask your teenage cousin.
What is causing the memory chip shortage in the tech industry?
It's Tuesday, February 17th. Let's ride. Let's ride.
Maybe you've heard about the sports equinox, which are those rare days where all major sports leagues are in action. But today I'm dubbing the holiday equinox because billions of people all over the world will be celebrating a holiday this Tuesday. Down in New Orleans, the throw in beads for Mardi Gras while in Brazil, carnival began on Saturday. For Muslims, tonight is the beginning of Ramadan, the holiest month of the Islamic calendar. And in Asian cultures, today is the start of Lunar New Year, ushering in the year of the fire horse.
And speaking of Lunar New Year, have you seen who's being embraced as sort of a mascot this year? It's Draco Malfoy. His face is everywhere in houses, on sites that are selling Lunar New Year decor. And it's because according to the BBC, the Chinese translation of his name Malfoy is Ma Er Fu, which contains the words for horse and fortune, which is seen as especially auspicious in the upcoming year of the horse. Harry Potter is furious right now. And now a word from our sponsor, FlavCity. Neil, I don't care what people say. It is easy being green. You finally started recycling? No, of course not. I'm talking about FlavCity's new Pepperminty Shamrock all-in-one protein smoothies. I'm talking 25 grams of protein, 10 grams of collagen, and functional mushrooms in just one scoop.
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Head to go.shopflavcity.com slash mbds to try any of their delicious flavors. That's go.shopflavcity.com slash mbds. The world is facing a memory crisis, and no, I'm not talking about forgetting where you left your keys. Memory, one of technology's fundamental building blocks, is facing an unprecedented shortage that could jack up the price of your next gaming console, smartphone, or computer if they get released at all. Already, Sony is considering delaying its next PlayStation launch to 2028 or 2029, while Dell has hiked prices on some of its commercial laptops by up to 30%. Rumor has it Nintendo could raise the cost of its Switch 2 this year for the same reason. We have been warned. So far in 2026, a parade of tech execs like Tim Cook and Elon Musk have predicted that the historic shortfall in memory is going to shake up product launches, squeeze margins, and raise prices for consumers in a supply chain crisis that may well last years.
Musk admitted the shortage is so dire that Tesla's going to have to make its own memory plant. We've got two choices, he said, hit the chip wall or make a fab. Wait, why are we running into a wall again is a question you might ask. Here is the quick answer. AI. It all comes back to AI. Big tech companies like Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Google are building galaxies of AI data centers, all that require loads of memory to run. And to capitalize, companies that make memory chips, such as Micron and Samsung, have diverted their production lines to make memory specifically for data centers, leaving the consumer gadget makers like smartphone and PC companies fighting for the scraps. Toby, welcome to Ramageddon.
So we do a little memory lesson because I feel like when people hear memory, their minds might go a little bit blank. So I'm going to break down the types of memory that we're talking about. First, there's DRAM. You're going to hear that word a lot. DRAM is sort of like walking into a library. You want to access an information. You want to access a book from a shelf. You walk to the shelf, you grab a book, you walk back, you repeat.
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