Hey {{First name|there}}! It’s Aaron.
If you’ve been planning a hardware upgrade this year, you might want to pay attention.
AI is eating the world's memory supply. And that's about to make your next laptop more expensive.
Here's the economic shift most creators aren't tracking yet.
📌TL;DR
Memory squeeze: AI data centers are absorbing global memory supply, driving up hardware costs for laptops, phones, and potentially AI tools themselves.
Apple’s AI wearables: Smart glasses, camera-enabled AirPods, and a visual Siri push could move AI from screens to real-world context — if Siri finally delivers.
AI music goes mainstream: Google just embedded music generation inside Gemini, turning prompt-to-song creation into a mass consumer feature overnight.
More AI news…
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes.
CATCH OF THE DAY
RAMmageddon: Is AI Quietly Making
Tech More Expensive?
Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash
The last time the world ran out of chips, everyone needed laptops to work from home.
This time, AI is eating the world’s memory. And it’s just getting started.
The Real Bottleneck Isn’t GPUs
When people think AI infrastructure, they picture Nvidia GPUs stacked in data centers. GPUs matter. But they are only half the equation.
Each AI accelerator ships with enormous amounts of memory. Nvidia’s Blackwell chips carry 192GB of RAM per chip. A single server rack contains enough memory to match roughly 1,000 high-end smartphones.
Now scale that across hyperscalers.
Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are projected to pour up to $650 billion into AI infrastructure by 2026.
That spending acts like a vacuum on global memory supply.
Why This Hits Everyday Tech
Memory manufacturers — Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron — are prioritizing specialized AI memory because it’s more profitable than the standard memory used in everyday devices.
The trade-off is simple: less capacity for the memory used in laptops, smartphones, consoles, PCs, and cars.
Sony may delay its next PlayStation to 2028. Chinese smartphone makers are trimming shipment targets. One type of memory jumped 75% in a single month.
If you’ve been delaying that 32GB RAM upgrade or eyeing the next MacBook refresh, you’re now competing with AI data centers for the same supply.
And hyperscalers don’t negotiate.
This May Last Longer Than You Think
Lenovo calls it a structural imbalance. Micron describes it as the biggest supply-demand disconnect in 25 years.
Building new chip plants takes years. Meanwhile, demand for AI-specific memory is projected to grow 70% in 2026 alone. Memory production is steadily shifting toward AI workloads.
This looks less like a temporary spike and more like a prolonged AI-driven cycle.
The Creator Tension
AI is marketed as the great equalizer.
Anyone can create. Anyone can launch. Anyone can scale.
But infrastructure isn’t neutral.
As AI data centers absorb more memory supply, everyday devices get more expensive. For lower-end smartphones, memory could account for up to 30% of total component cost this year, tripling from 10% in early 2025.
And hardware isn’t the only place this surfaces.
If infrastructure costs rise, AI services eventually feel it too — through higher tiers, stricter usage caps, or features that quietly move behind paywalls.
The companies building AI can absorb those shifts. Smaller firms, educators, indie developers, and solo creators cannot as easily.
Access becomes a budget decision.
What Creators Should Do
1. Upgrade earlier if you’re planning to.
If you expect to refresh hardware in the next 12–18 months, waiting may not mean cheaper.
2. Balance cloud and local workflows.
If AI infrastructure gets more expensive, cloud-heavy workflows could follow. Keep critical tasks local where possible.
3. Compare markets before buying.
Memory shortages do not hit every region equally. Check cross-border pricing if feasible.
4. Don’t assume today’s AI pricing is permanent.
Free tiers and generous limits are strategic. If costs rise upstream, expect pricing models to adjust downstream.
The Final Byte
AI is transforming software at breathtaking speed.
Underneath it all is memory. And memory is finite.
The tools are getting smarter. Participation may be getting more expensive.
That tension could shape who gets to build in the next phase of the AI boom.
See you in the next one,
BYTE-SIZED BUZZ
Here’s a quick roundup of what’s making waves in the AI world this week.
Apple is reportedly developing three AI-powered wearables — smart glasses, a camera pendant, and upgraded AirPods — all designed to give Siri real-time visual awareness via the iPhone. A major Siri overhaul is expected alongside the hardware push.
The Big Deal: Apple entering AI wearables (with actual working context awareness) could mainstream visual AI — but it all hinges on whether Siri finally delivers.
Google rolled out Lyria 3 inside Gemini, allowing users to generate 30-second music tracks with lyrics and cover art from text, photos, or videos. YouTube Shorts creators can also access it via Dream Track.
The Big Deal: AI music just moved from niche tools to mass adoption — putting prompt-based soundtracks directly in creators’ hands.
Tavus introduced Phoenix-4, a real-time AI avatar model capable of shifting emotional states mid-conversation with HD, 40 FPS rendering. The company is targeting healthcare, education, and sales applications.
The Big Deal: Real-time emotional AI avatars blur the line between helpful and manipulative. When an avatar looks empathetic, how do you know if the response is genuine or optimized for conversion?
OpenAI introduced an optional Lockdown Mode to protect against prompt injection attacks, alongside an “Elevated Risk” warning label for suspicious actions. Enterprise tiers already have access.
The Big Deal: AI security is maturing — and creators handling sensitive data now have stronger guardrails against hidden prompt attacks.
Microsoft confirmed a Copilot issue that allowed confidential emails to be accessed and summarized despite data loss prevention policies. A fix is rolling out, but the scope of impact remains unclear.
The Big Deal: AI convenience can quietly override governance — reinforcing why oversight and proper AI controls matter in corporate workflows.
WEEKLY CREATOR LOADOUT 🐾
Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic): Generate long-form content with 1M context and strong reasoning at a fraction of flagship model costs.
Gemini 3.1 Pro (Google): Produce research-heavy scripts, outlines, and deep analysis with upgraded reasoning performance.
HeyGen: Turn ideas into polished avatar-led videos in minutes — no filming required.
Recraft V4: Create production-ready visuals with strong typography support for thumbnails, branding, and marketing assets.
Lyria 3 (Google): Generate custom music tracks from prompts inside Gemini for Shorts, Reels, and background scoring.
THE GUIDEBOOK
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