Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra configuration with RTX Spark, 128GB of unified memory and a 1TB SSD is listed as out of stock on the company's product page at $5,899.99. The machine shares its 128GB of memory dynamically between CPU and GPU, can run 120B-parameter AI models locally and supports a context window of up to one million. That combination appeals to developers, researchers and businesses focused on keeping sensitive data private. The sellout points to strong demand for high-performance local AI computing hardware.

South Korea’s DRAM export unit price surged to $92,183 per kilogram for Aug. 1–20, up 401% year on year and 12.5 times higher than in January 2023. At that level, 1 kg of DRAM is valued at roughly the same as 620 grams of 24K gold. Servers using Nvidia’s Rubin GPUs could see prices rise 15% to 17% because memory makes up a large share of the bill.

NVIDIA said in its fiscal 2027 second-quarter earnings release that it has signed $108.5 billion in land, power and data-center shell guarantees for AI cloud partners. The 20-year arrangement is tied to SB Energy’s PORTSPike Technology Campus in Ohio, securing about 4.25 gigawatts of capacity and, per generation, potentially supporting around 1.5 million NVIDIA GPUs—equating to about $150 billion to $200 billion in revenue, according to the company’s CFO commentary. NVIDIA also reported quarterly revenue and net income growth of 106% and 126%, while gross margin rose to 75%.

NVIDIA will pay $6 billion to license AI startup Poolside’s technology and hire most of its engineers, and will invest another $1 billion for an equity stake at a $12 billion valuation. The company also plans to raise prices for its Grace Blackwell GPUs and Vera Rubin systems by about 15% early next year, with a single Vera Rubin NVL 72 rack potentially priced at around $8 million. The move could push the total cost of a 1GW data center in the US to nearly $60 billion.

SK hynix has significantly enhanced employee benefits, including an average 6.3% increase in base pay and doubling the housing-loan limit for married employees to $144,000. The company also expanded bereavement support to cover relatives such as aunts and uncles. Separately, Goldman Sachs estimates SK hynix will generate 252 trillion won in free cash flow from 2025 to 2027, leaving about 70 trillion won after returning 55% to shareholders.

NVIDIA is quietly acquiring long-haul dark fiber across the United States, with fiber counts running up to 100 pairs, according to Wolfe Research. Using DWDM equipment and an assumed 800 Gbps transmission speed, the network’s theoretical capacity would scale to 7.6 petabits per second. The buildout is framed as a multi-year infrastructure effort, with Needham previously describing a telecom network project that could cost $5 billion to $10 billion over the coming 3 years. The company has also reported a 9.3 percent stake in the neocloud Nebius.

UBS raised its forecast for the sequential increase in DRAM prices in Q3 to 32% from 17%, and lifted its Q3 NAND price estimate to 30% from 17%. TrendForce also expects DRAM prices to rise 18% sequentially in Q3 and NAND to gain 15%. UBS said the supply-demand gap is widening, with 2027 demand projected to grow 36.2% versus supply growth of 19.3%, keeping the market constrained into Q2 2028.

Jefferies Equity Research expects DRAM and NAND prices to rise 40%–50% quarter-on-quarter in Q3 2026, followed by another 30%–40% increase in Q4 2026. The report also projects 2027 pricing to be up 40%–45% year-on-year. It attributes the tight market to constrained global supply, a surge in AI-driven demand and delayed new capacity, while saying Chinese suppliers are unlikely to ease shortages in the near term. Micron has signed 16 Strategic Customer Agreements and long-term contracts could reach 70%, further limiting supply for consumer devices.

Support for an NVIDIA GPU architecture labeled “BlackwellNext” has appeared in Linux 7.2 kernel patches. The change adds CXL DVSEC-based readiness polling in the nvgracegpu VFIO-PCI variant driver, according to Phoronix. The update is tied to AI and HPC data center platforms rather than any consumer GeForce launch, and it includes no shipment figures.