Intel and AMD Processors Become the New Scarce Resource

At the Morgan Stanley 2026 conference, executives from Intel and AMD admitted that demand for central processing units has significantly exceeded all forecasts. AI has once again become the primary driver of chip demand.

Why Graphics Accelerators Are No Longer Enough

The first wave of the AI boom in 2022–2024 sparked an increasing demand for graphics processors. The new demand for these units is driven by the transition to agentic AI systems. 

Intel CFO David Zinsner explained that systems like Clawdbot or Moltbot require powerful processors to coordinate tasks performed by graphics cards and neural processing units. 

Agentic AI is capable of more than just generating text; it can plan tasks and act independently, which sharply increases hardware workload requirements.

Now There Are Shortages of Both Memory and Processors

The market has not yet had time to recover from the memory component crisis. Analysts suggest an expected doubling of prices for DRAM and an increase in the cost of NAND. Chip shortages could last up to 2027.

The processor situation adds further uncertainty. AMD CEO Lisa Su confirmed that order volumes for server solutions have been unprecedented. In China, companies are already reporting a shortage of server CPUs from Intel and AMD.

Threat to Budget PCs

Experts warn: if manufacturers cannot keep up with the high demand, the budget-level personal computer market could cease to exist by 2028. Budget systems risk becoming unprofitable due to skyrocketing memory prices and the shortage of processors, which are being diverted to cloud giants.