00:00Singapore is experiencing a huge spike in RAM prices.
00:04At Simlim Square, a six-story electronics mall,
00:07some chips have surged by as much as 500% in recent months.
00:11Why? Because booming demand for artificial intelligence
00:14is pulling chip makers towards high-end AI chips,
00:17where profit margins are better.
00:19That's squeezing supply of standard consumer memory chips
00:22and driving prices even higher.
00:25RAM is used in almost every smart device.
00:28It's what helps your computer or phone quickly access data and apps.
00:32Some of the customers may consider to postpone the upgrading.
00:37The prices keep changing, so we cannot estimate anything or so.
00:42It's not just the cost that poses the challenge for repair technicians,
00:46it's also the volatility.
00:48Once we confirm, then we have to quickly get it fixed at this price.
00:52We try to lock the price and get the thing done.
00:54If the customer comes back two hours later,
00:56then we will call him again two hours later.
01:01Some memory chip traders at Simlim Square have lost about half of their regular business,
01:06as customers' shunt cost increases.
01:08The case of the repair technicians at Simlim Square illustrates
01:11how the AI race is reshaping the chip industry
01:13and how everyday devices could become the hidden cost of tomorrow's computing power.
01:18Now, we check it out at the machine like this.
01:18You know what I wanted to do?
01:19The machine that doesn't know what I'm going to do.
01:22For more information visit www.fema.org
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