Memory Is Now the Most Expensive Part of an AI Server

Intel's chief executive put a number on the AI buildout's dirtiest secret on September 15: memory prices have risen five to seven times, projects are being delayed because buyers cannot secure enough of it, and the situation will get worse before it gets better. Lip-Bu Tan made the remarks at the AI Infrastructure Forum in Santa Clara, and by September 17 the market had done the math. Micron closed up 5.5 percent in Thursday's session at $977.50 per Yahoo Finance data, SK hynix gained roughly 5 percent, and Intel itself rallied as investors priced in what a permanent memory shortage does to the companies that make the chips the shortage is about. For the week's earlier memory-price moves, se…