The semiconductor industry is flashing warning signs that markets cannot afford to ignore. A widening gap between chip supply and demand is pushing prices higher across the tech supply chain, and the reverberations are starting to look a lot like a familiar story from the early 2020s.
This time, though, the culprit is not a pandemic. It is artificial intelligence.
A shortage with a very specific origin story
DRAM prices surged more than 60% in 2025, driven almost entirely by explosive demand from AI data center buildouts. When AI companies hoover up the available supply, everyone else waits in line.
Building a new semiconductor fabrication plant requires tens of billions of dollars in capital and years of construction time before a single chip rolls off the line. Demand, meanwhile, moves at the speed of a venture capital cycle.
