Memory Could Be the Last Great Investment of this AI Cycle

May 13, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The Limitless Podcast episode examines memory stocks' explosive growth amid AI demand, questioning if they're still a smart investment or if historical boom-bust cycles signal a bubble. Hosts argue this cycle differs due to AI's unique requirements for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), creating sustained demand that outpaces supply.

Memory's Critical Role in AI

Memory chips sit physically next to GPUs and store model weights and data needed for training and inference. Large models are bottlenecked not by GPU compute speed but by how quickly data can be pulled from memory—making memory capacity the "kingpin" for generating AI tokens. In Nvidia GPUs, memory now accounts for 50% of materials costs, up from 30-40% early in the AI cycle. Future iterations like Rubin, Rubin Ultra, and Feynman will require 2-4x more memory each. AI has spurred a new HBM type, vertically stacked (8-12 layers now, 16 soon) for higher bandwidth, unlike standard DRAM in consumer devices.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **Memory Stock Boom Intro** - Highlights explosive growth in memory stocks like SanDisk and new ETF due to AI demand
2 (00:53) **Historical Memory Cycles** - Explains volatile boom-bust "pig cycles" in memory since 1980s
3 (01:46) **Why This Time Is Different: AI Demand Surge** - AI creates unprecedented demand outpacing supply
4 (03:26) **High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) Explained** - New AI-specific HBM stacks vertically for faster access
5 (04:50) **Supply Constraints from Oligopoly** - Only 3 makers prioritizing AI memory over consumer RAM
6 (05:04) **Shift to Inference and AI Agents** - Demand explodes from inference over training
7 (07:49) **Legitimate Backlogs and Valuations** - Earnings backed by upfront payments, not bubble

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

There has been a surge in memory stocks and memory ETFs, with AI inference demand reshaping the market and perhaps reshaping the entire memory industry.

Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung are interesting plays with their supply constraints, rising memory needs, and signs that shortages are starting to affect consumer devices.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Memory Companies
5:03 Inference Demand
6:52 Supply Constraints
10:58 Key Players
14:55 Market Conditions
20:04 Forecasting
23:31 Closing

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RESOURCES

Josh: https://x.com/JoshKale

Ejaaz: https://x.com/cryptopunk7213

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