They call it RAMageddon. And if you have tried to buy a laptop, a gaming console, or even a Raspberry Pi in the last three months, you already know why.

DRAM prices have tripled. SSD prices have doubled or tripled since December. Sony just hiked the PS5 by $100 across the board. Lenovo slapped an extra $650 on its flagship gaming handheld. Raspberry Pi has raised prices three times since December, with the 16GB Pi 5 jumping by $100 alone. And Gartner says cheaper memory is not coming back until 2028.

The culprit is not a natural disaster. It is not a supply chain crisis. It is AI.

AI Data Centers Are Eating the Planet's Memory

Here is what happened. The biggest names in AI, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta, are building data centers at a pace that makes the dot-com era look restrained. Those data centers need enormous quantities of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to train and run AI models. Memory manufacturers like Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are redirecting their production lines to serve this demand because HBM chips command far higher margins than the regular DRAM and NAND that go into your laptop.

"DRAM is embedded in every part of our digital society today," Jeff Janukowicz, research VP at IDC, told The Verge. Laptops, smartphones, gaming consoles, smart TVs, cars, and even the controllers inside SSDs all depend on it. When AI companies buy up the supply, everything else gets squeezed.

Gartner projects DRAM prices will surge 125% and NAND flash prices 234% in 2026. Dell's CEO says total memory demand from AI will be 625 times larger in 2028 than it was in 2022. The sub-$500 entry-level PC? Gartner says it will "disappear by 2028."

The Damage Is Already Everywhere

Sony raised PS5 prices globally in April, with the Pro model hitting $900. Sony also suspended nearly its entire memory card product line because it cannot source enough NAND. Western Digital and Seagate are reportedly sold out of all hard disk inventory for 2026. Apple, which locked in long-term DRAM supply contracts, is still seeing Mac mini and Mac Studio delivery timelines slip to September.

Gartner, IDC, and Canalys are all forecasting double-digit declines in PC shipments this year: 11%, 12%, and 10% respectively. Not because people do not want computers. Because people cannot afford them anymore.

This Is AI's Invisible Tax

Nobody voted for this. Nobody was asked. The AI industry decided it needed the world's memory supply, and memory manufacturers decided AI margins were better than consumer margins. The result is a wealth transfer from every person who buys electronics to a handful of companies building infrastructure for technology that most consumers have not asked for and many do not use.

When oil companies raise gas prices, it makes front-page news. When AI companies make your laptop 40% more expensive by consuming the global chip supply, the blame gets diffused across "market conditions" and "supply constraints." It is the same thing. It is a demand shock caused by a specific industry, and consumers are absorbing the cost.

The AI industry keeps talking about how it will change the world. Right now, the most tangible change for most people is that everything with a chip in it just got a lot more expensive. And according to Gartner, that is not changing until at least 2028.

Welcome to RAMageddon. The AI revolution has arrived, and it brought a bill.