A coalition of nine US trade associations sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on June 3, warning that the AI-fueled rush for memory chips is creating a supply crisis that threatens to ripple across the American economy. The core message: AI data centers are hogging the world’s memory chip production, and everyone else is getting squeezed.
The groups represent industries spanning automotive, consumer electronics, medical devices, telecommunications, and retail. DRAM prices surged over 60% in 2025, and the trajectory points toward more pain ahead through 2026 and 2027.
AI is eating the memory market
Major producers like Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix have increasingly redirected their manufacturing capacity toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and high-performance DRAM, the specialized chips that power AI data centers.
Data centers are projected to consume roughly 70% of total global memory chip output by the end of 2026. The trade groups’ letter made this dynamic explicit: reduced supply for essential manufacturing and consumer-facing industries is colliding with unprecedented price increases. Production delays and higher costs are expected for vehicles, PCs, and a wide range of consumer gadgets.
