AI Drives 246% NAND Spike, Lifting Costs for Power, Software and Housing

2 articles · Updated · Computerworld · Jun 22

246% NAND price growth since early 2025 has become a visible sign of AI-driven inflation, with the report arguing that data-center demand is pushing up costs for gadgets, software, services and utilities.
5% average US residential electricity inflation in 2025 and wholesale power prices that have more than doubled near data-center hubs show how AI's appetite for chips, power, land and labor creates scarcity that households ultimately fund.
13.2% SaaS inflation and 13.5% projected global IT spending growth to $6.31 trillion in 2026 reflect companies passing AI infrastructure and compute costs through subscriptions, enterprise contracts and service pricing.
70% to 100% higher automotive memory-chip prices in 2026 could add up to $400 per car, while data-center competition for utility-ready land and construction crews is also lifting homebuilding costs and wages by 25% to 30%.
38 states now offer data-center tax incentives, and the report says those subsidies, along with AI-based dynamic pricing across travel and entertainment, are broadening the technology's effect from isolated shortages to overall cost-of-living pressure.

Sources

Computerworld3h ago

Artificial Intelligence Fuels Widespread Inflation, Driving Up Costs for Gadgets, Software, Services, and Utilities

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AI Boom Drives Unprecedented NAND Price Spike: Inside the 2025-2028 Global Memory Shortage

Overview

Between 2025 and 2026, NAND flash memory prices soared to unprecedented levels, driven by surging demand from the artificial intelligence sector. This AI boom created a ripple effect, pushing up costs for memory chips across many electronic devices and causing the global NAND market to hit a record $46 billion in early 2026. As a result, high-end DDR5 memory became several times more expensive, and flash memory now costs much more than traditional hard drives. These rapid price increases and supply shortages have reshaped the technology landscape, making memory a critical and costly component for both manufacturers and consumers.

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