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TSMC is apparently considering getting into the RAM business at the request of Nvidia.
(www.theverge.com)
this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2026
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It takes an already-existing memory manufacturer 4–5 years to do a new factory.
I don't know how much longer it'd take a non-memory manufacturer, but presumably more.
I'm not saying that this would be bad, but I'd expect that it'd be some way in the future if it happens.
and the reason manufacturers aren't building many more factories is because they're extremely expensive and there's no guarantee the same demand will still exist in 5 or 10 years. What if the AI bubble bursts, the market is flooded with second-hand supply, and all the new factories aren't needed?
Micron is building new factories in New York, and they expect the first factory there to be online by 2030 at a cost of $50 billion (which is more than their entire 2025 revenue).
We had this issue during the crypto boom and the manufacterers that added capacity then are glad they did.
What else could use up that RAM? How about standalone VR? We could get mainstream adoption by 2030.
The point is building factories sometimes pays off
I agree that more supply would be great and building factories can pay off. It's still very expensive though, and some banks are growing skeptical of the ballooning costs of AI-related projects.
That's why I don't think we should limit the AI boom, give the supply chains a chance to pay for more capacity for the future
There are a few other reasons to stop building data centers.
My ask is that DC e held to adhere to environmental regs, rather than be given free rein like they have now
Like what? The economy is basically not in a recession because of a data center boom
Did you miss that google illegally clearcut 250,000 trees for a data center, or that they use tons of water and power and they're building them in deserts. Or that they're an absolute nuisance for miles around them?
How about they shouldn't be allowed to do that? You can build data centers without breaking the law. They also don't use that much water. They have been farming almonds in arid California areas for decades and nobody cared
There's definitely some negatives about data centers.
However, there's also a lot of misinformation. All the data centers in the entire USA use less than 1/20 of the water consumed by golf courses, and modern designs use closed-loop water cooling rather than the older evaporative cooling. Evaporative cooling is the type that uses a lot of water.
I live in Silicon Valley, and most of the data centers here are in Santa Clara County. 65% of the water usage by data centers is recycled water.