Chipmakers are getting rich on AI at almost everyone else's expense
🕒 Published on AI Momentum: June 30, 2026 · 03:40
⚠️ PAYWALL NOTICE: This Wall Street Journal article is subscription-protected. Only an introductory fragment (teaser) was received, so the following summary is based exclusively on what that fragment reveals, without adding fabricated information.
⚠️ PAYWALL NOTICE: This Wall Street Journal article is subscription-protected. Only an introductory teaser came through, so the following summary is based solely on what that fragment reveals, with no invented information added.
The article, written by James Mackintosh in the WSJ's 'Streetwise' section, starts from a specific data point: the explosive growth in Micron Technology's profits in its latest quarter. According to the available text, that windfall is extraordinarily good news for Micron's shareholders, but it comes at the expense of the artificial intelligence companies it sells its high-speed memory chips to.
The author's central argument boils down to an analogy: Micron, along with South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, are to AI what oil producers are to airlines. In other words, makers of an essential input that has become suddenly and significantly more expensive this year. The companies developing and deploying AI need large amounts of high-performance memory and, having no alternatives, must pay the prices set by a highly concentrated group of manufacturers.
The teaser also mentions related headlines that appear on the same WSJ page, offering clues to the article's broader context: SK Hynix and Micron have reportedly joined the so-called 'trillion-dollar club' of stock-market valuation, while Samsung —the sector's third major player— is going through labor tensions, with negotiations between its management and its union. It is also noted that memory chips have become 'one of the most profitable products in the world' thanks to AI.
In short, the article's thesis points to an extraordinary transfer of economic value: according to the source, the money that AI providers pour into infrastructure ends up flowing in large part to the memory-chip makers, which act as suppliers of a scarce and indispensable resource. Interested readers will need to access the full article through a WSJ subscription to learn the detailed analysis, the exact profit figures and Mackintosh's conclusions.