Intel chief executive Lip-Bu Tan said the memory shortage will get worse. He spoke at the AI Infrastructure Forum in Santa Clara on 15 September. Memory prices have risen five to seven times, he said. Projects are being delayed because firms cannot secure enough memory. Tan said mid- and low-priced phones and laptops are hardest to supply. Demand for high-bandwidth memory used in AI systems has outrun supply from Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron. Production lines have shifted to that memory, so general-purpose chips are short too. Tan named electricity supply and cooling as the next major constraints. Intel is investing in liquid and microfluidic cooling. He also said Intel will keep its partnership with Nvidia, which is both a shareholder and a rival.

• memory prices up 5 to 7 times