> It's somewhat alarming to see that companies (owned by a very small slice of society) producing these AI thingies (whose current economic is questionable value and actual future potential is up to hot debate)

Some might conclude the same for funds (hedge funds/private equity) and housing.

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xadhominemx 11 hours ago | parent | next [-]

AI consumes about 30% of DRAM wafers. PE owns about .5% of single family homes.

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impossiblefork 10 hours ago | parent [-]

It going to be misleading to look at the fraction and I think it's misleading to only look at PE investors. It's more important to look at the fraction of demand for homes that are on the market.

Investors bought 1/3 of the US homes sold in 2023. This is, I think, quite alarming, especially since a small amount of extra demand can have a large effect on prices.

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xadhominemx 10 hours ago | parent [-]

That 1/3rd is almost all small time flippers who renovate properties before resale.

	▲	intrasight 10 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Good point. Flippers shouldn't be included in that stat. But I doubt that it's "almost all". The statistic that matters is the ratio of owner occupied to rented single family homes.
	▲	riku_iki 7 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		this would need some source citation. There are plenty of investors on the market holding rental properties.

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baobabKoodaa 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I'm confused. When you say that hedge funds "price out" regular people, what do you mean? Price out of what?

	▲	kubb 12 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Of the housing market? That seems to be what GP said, doesn’t it?
	▲	gosub100 9 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		They create demand which increases price. Plus they can afford to hold their asset longer, this reducing supply.

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lpapez 14 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Stop right there you terrorist antifa leftie commie scum! You are being arrested for thought crime!