> My post argues that the demand has permanently shifted

The time horizon for this is murky at best. This is something you think, but can’t know. But, you’re putting money behind it, so if you’re right, you’ll make a good profit!

But for the larger companies (like WD), over building capacity can be a big problem. They can’t plan factory expansion based on what might be a short term bubble. That’s how companies go out of business. There is plenty to suggest that you’re right, that AI will cause permanently increased demand for computing/storage resources. Because it is useful and does consume and produce a lot of new data and media.

But I’m still skeptical.

The massive increase in spending can’t be sustainable. We can’t continue to see the AI beast at this rate and still have other devices. Silicon wafer fabs can’t be built on demand and take time. SSD/HD factories take time. I think we are seeing an expansion to see who the big players will be in the next 3-5 years. Once that order has been established, then I think we will fall back to more sustainable rates of demand. This isn’t collusion, it’s just market dynamics at play in a common market. Sadly, we are all part of the same pool and so everything is expensive for all of us. At some point though, the AI money will dry up or get more expensive. Then I think we’ll see a reversion back to “normal” demand, maybe slightly elevated, but not the crazy jump we’ve seen for the past two years.

Us being in the same pool as AI is one of the potential risks pointed out by AI safety experts.

To use an analogy, imagine you're a small fluffy mammal that lives in fertile soils in open plains. Suddenly a bunch of humans show up with plows and till you and your environment under to grow crops.

Maybe the humans suddenly won't need crops any longer and you'll get your territory back. But if that doesn't happen and a paradigm change occurred you're in trouble.