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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Joanna Partridge

BT warns of smartphone price rises due to chip shortages from AI boom

Pedestrians walk past an EE and BT store front with large windows and bright signage
Price increases would mainly hit smartphone handsets, BT said. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

BT has said the cost of smartphones could rise as technology companies buy up semiconductor chips because of the boom in artificial intelligence, putting pressure on supply chains.

The telecoms company’s chief executive, Allison Kirkby, said she was anticipating shortages as tech firms bought large quantities of memory chips to power the datacentres relied on by AI.

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