# Memory Pricing Pressures, Meta's Muse AI, and the Agentic CPU Crunch

- Show: [The Circuit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit)
- Published: 2026-09-28
- Length: 50m
- Episode: 187
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2026-09-28-memory-pricing-pressures-metas-muse-ai-and-the-agentic-cpu-crunch
- Listen: https://share.transistor.fm/s/c8e8739e

## Summary

Ben Bajarin and Jay Goldberg discuss the semiconductor memory market, noting that Chinese providers YMTC and CXMT are ramping capacity and improving yields, which may offer pricing relief to OEMs squeezed by data center demand. They analyze Meta's new 'Muse' AI assistant as a potential catalyst for mainstream adoption by bridging the user skill gap through proactive orchestration, while also highlighting the massive, unforeseen surge in CPU demand required to power these continuous 'agentic' workloads. Finally, they unpack Anthropic's $11 billion equity-exchange partnership with Akamai, highlighting its implications for distributed edge inference and the critical need for CPU infrastructure.

## Chapters

- [0:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2026-09-28-memory-pricing-pressures-metas-muse-ai-and-the-agentic-cpu-crunch#t=5) Introduction and Chinese Memory Market Dynamics
- [3:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2026-09-28-memory-pricing-pressures-metas-muse-ai-and-the-agentic-cpu-crunch#t=201) Memory Pricing Pressures and OEM Strategy
- [9:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2026-09-28-memory-pricing-pressures-metas-muse-ai-and-the-agentic-cpu-crunch#t=592) Meta's Muse AI and the Agentic Assistant
- [24:38](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2026-09-28-memory-pricing-pressures-metas-muse-ai-and-the-agentic-cpu-crunch#t=1478) Anthropic-Akamai Partnership and CPU Demand

## Topics

- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- YMTC (company)
- CXMT (company)
- Meta (company)
- Muse (product)
- Anthropic (company)
- Akamai (company)
- Linode (company)
- Apple (company)
- Samsung (company)
- SK Hynix (company)
- Micron (company)
- OpenAI (company)
- Claude (product)
- Cloudflare (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [CEO Interview: Mike Henry of Mythic | The Biggest Chip Deal Ever | Do Androids Dream of Electric Smartphones?](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2020-09-18-ceo-interview-mike-henry-of-mythic-the-biggest-chip-deal-ever-do-androids-dream) (EE Times Current)
- [EMS & The Economist: How AI Data Centers Are Reshaping Memory Prices And Supply with Shawn DuBravac](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ems-c-level/2026-04-27-ems-the-economist-how-ai-data-centers-are-reshaping-memory-prices-and-supply-wit) (EMS@C-LEVEL)
- [AI and Semiconductor Memory: More, More, More](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2021-10-01-ai-and-semiconductor-memory-more-more-more) (EE Times Current)
- [AI Disruption: DeepSeek and Cerebras](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2025-02-06-ai-disruption-deepseek-and-cerebras) (Oxide and Friends)
- [Inside the emerging frontier of models, machines and manufacturing hell.](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/built-2-scale/2025-12-11-inside-the-emerging-frontier-of-models-machines-and-manufacturing-hell) (Built 2 Scale)

## Citing this page

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