Raspberry Pi is raising the prices of several single-board computers, with the increase taking effect immediately. The price of Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 modules ranges from $5 to $25 depending on the model and the amount of RAM included. The price of the 16GB memory variant of the Compute Module 5 is increasing by $20 and now starts at $140.
It’s a bummer and we know who to thank. This is the best memory hog the AI industry has ever seen.
“The current pressure on memory prices due to competition from AI infrastructure roll-outs is painful but ultimately temporary,” CEO Eben Upton wrote in a blog post. He also said the company “expects to reduce these price increases once they subside.” Once the price goes up it usually doesn’t go down again, but when we reach that point we will cross that bridge.
Here is a good news. The company also announced a new 1GB variant of the Raspberry Pi 5, which costs just $45. It includes a quad-core 2.4GHz Arm Cortex-A76 processor, dual-band Wi-Fi, and a PCI Express slot.
AI companies hoard RAM like a vacuum on top of kitty litter and the Raspberry Pi is the latest organization to face the consequences. The skyrocketing price of RAM has impacted businesses like CyberPower PC, which recently announced there will be no holiday sales on memory products.
Of course, AI companies also usurp GPUs, which has put pressure on the entire industry. But can you really put a price on an AI-generated video of Pikachu cooking a stew or a fake livestream? This is a serious thing that requires every ounce of our water, electricity, attention and money.
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