• Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    82
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    3 days ago

    The RAM and SSD pricing situation is not unique to this project. AI data center demand has sent DDR5 prices through the roof over the past few months

    …and I strongly believe that most of it is just foul play.

    The AI companies are misusing their shitloads of venture capital to play with prices and manipulate the stock market.

    • SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      28
      ·
      2 days ago

      It is absolutely foul play.

      OpenAI made secret deals with DRAM manufacturers, not for memory chips but for finished wafers straight out of the Fab. Then announced them both on the same day, meaning they had a one fell swoop purchased 50+% of the world’s memory supply for 2026.

      OpenAI does not (as far as anyone knows) have the machinery to process these wafers, to slice them up and package them into memory chips.

      Which means the only purpose of this move was to kill the global DRAM supply and drive up prices for the competition.

      Personally I wish regulators would take a hard look at this deal.

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      36
      ·
      3 days ago

      Yup. It’s not real. The vast majority of GPUs delivered in 2025 aren’t plugged in. They still have some 2024 GPUs sitting idle.

      This is all a shell game of fraud.

    • ganryuu@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      24
      ·
      edit-2
      3 days ago

      I remember reading a few days ago that OpenAI basically ordered 3 times as much RAM as they could use this year. There are also data centers fully equipped but not turned on as the local power grid could not handle the added demand.

      • chaogomu@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        19
        ·
        2 days ago

        That power grid thing is what will ultimately pop the bubble.

        The lack of last mile fiber is what popped the dot com bubble.

        Turns out, spending a fuckload of money on unusable infrastructure is a bad thing.

    • bryndos@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      2 days ago

      There’s some classic oligopoly/game theory stuff about these sort of tactics. Should be a breach of competition law. Competition law is a joke. Free market for thee not for me.