AI demand is pushing up computer costs and straining electricity markets, and the spending boom is creating new inflation pressures.

Australia's latest inflation figures showed that prices in the category covering audio, visual, and computing equipment rose 6.1% in a single quarter.

That's by far the largest increase in the Australian Bureau of Statistics series, which began in 1980. Computers, TVs, and electronics in general have gotten cheaper and delivered more performance for the same money.

Customers around the world, including Australia, have (reasonably) expected this trend to continue.

This is why the third quarter came as such a surprise, as it interrupted a consumer expectation that has been in place for decades.

The Reserve Bank of Australia linked higher prices for some computers and other consumer electronics to rising memory-chip costs associated with demand for AI infrastructure.

The same components, or the manufacturing capacity needed to produce them, are now being pursued by companies whose shopping budgets look nothing like yours.

On Nov. 3, the RBA raised its cash rate to 4.85%, citing AI-related investment as one of several sources of price pressure. Higher fuel costs and domestic capacity constraints were also involved, and the bank said AI's effect on overall consumer prices remained modest.

The technology hasn't single-handedly taken over Australian monetary policy, although it has progressed from a promise in investor presentations to a consideration in decisions that affect ordinary borrowers.

We've also seen this in the US, where AI demand has reached much further into the system that determines the cost of electricity.

Source link