A coalition of telcos, automakers, medical device manufacturers, and major retailers sent an urgent letter to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, warning that AI data center buildouts are hoarding global DRAM and HBM supply. They contend that if memory manufacturers continue to divert wafer capacity toward HBM for AI accelerators, they will starve commodity DRAM and NAND markets, causing price hikes to:

• Consumer electronics

• IT products

• Internet and telecom infrastructure

• Automobiles

• Medical devices

Signatories to the letter included:

• NCTA—The Internet & Television Association

• ACA Connects—America’s Communications Association

• NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association

• Telecommunications Industry Association

• Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA)

• AdvaMed Alliance for Automotive Innovation

• Retail Industry Leaders Association

• National Retail Federation

These associations emphasized that they “represent companies that employ millions of Americans and that supply products that underpin the functioning of our economy, and are key contributors to the expansion of U.S. investment and manufacturing that the Trump Administration has made a centerpiece of its policy agenda.”

While acknowledging AI’s generational technological advances, they stressed that a focus on U.S. tech leadership should not come at a cost to all other key industries: “The real-world impacts of these trends have already begun to show themselves and threaten to deteriorate rapidly if the situation is not remedied.”

Specifically, the authors cited an “urgent imbalance in the market for memory chips that could lead to significant and sustained near-term price increases for American households and disrupt critical U.S. supply chains.” In addition, they said small business and federal contractors would suffer, as they increasingly “struggle to meet procurement obligations.”

To avoid risks to large swaths of the U.S. economy, they said urgent action was necessary to avoid major supply chain disruption. The recommended actions included a faster and larger expansion of memory chipmaking capacity in the United States and in allied jurisdictions, and an increased focus on consumer-facing and manufacturing industries.

RCRTech will update this story once U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issue a response.

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