Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTPatrick Sanders, The Motley FoolWed, August 5, 2026 at 6:53 PM GMT+2 5 min readElon Musk says that the artificial intelligence build-out has a memory problem. The CEO of Tesla and Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ:SPCX) said on SpaceX's earnings call that demand for memory chips is growing much faster than the available supply."The limiting factor currently is memory," he said.Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »Musk's statement is notable for two reasons. First, both his companies are keenly interested in buying memory, so Musk knows the space well. Tesla and SpaceX both rely on artificial intelligence for their future goals, and both are investing billions to purchase AI chips, memory, storage, and other AI infrastructure for their data centers.And second, prices for memory components are rising amid massive demand, which, in turn, is causing major hyperscalers to spend billions more on capital expenditures. Alphabet raised its capex budget by $15 billion to $200 billion; Amazon bumped its budget from $200 billion to $220 billion; and Meta Platforms increased the low end of its outlook from $125 billion to $130 billion. Investors have become concerned that rising prices, coupled with the memory chip shortage, could slow the AI infrastructure boom.Now Musk is saying that won't be the case at all."The memory output is increasing by around 20% per year. Now, normally, that would be fantastically fast and amazing for any large, mature industry, but ask yourself: Is the demand increasing by 20% a year?" Musk asked. "No, the demand is increasing by 200% a year, maybe higher. So, if you've got demand increasing much faster than supply, then economics 101 would suggest that the price increases. It does not decrease."Let's look at two companies that would be best positioned to benefit from Musk's viewpoint: Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) and SK Hynix (NASDAQ:SKHY).Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Source: The White House.Micron, by any measure, is having a solid year, with its stock up more than 215% and earnings results that are more than solid. But concerns about memory chip prices and the ongoing build-out of AI have weighed on the stock, and Micron is currently sitting 25% off all-time highs set in June.Those concerns aren't affecting Micron's bottom line, however. The company reported massive growth in the fiscal third quarter (ending May 28), with revenue more than quadrupling year over year to $41.46 billion. Net income of $28.24 billion was up from $1.88 billion in Q2 2025.Terms and Privacy PolicyEU DSA contactPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info