How the Memory Wall was built and broken on the shores of the Pearl River

In late September, the GMIF 2026 conference took place in Shenzhen, focusing on the development of artificial intelligence and storage systems. The author shares insights from the event, highlighting key topics such as the impact of memory on token economics, the rethinking of data center architecture for AI scenarios, and global supply chains. A significant portion of the conference was dedicated to SSD, NAND, and KV Cache technologies, which are critical in overcoming the 'Memory Wall'—a bandwidth bottleneck that limits the performance of modern computing systems. The article analyzes how current hardware solutions help bypass these barriers and provides practical advice for those planning to attend IT conferences in China. This piece serves as a deep dive into how hardware advancements are becoming the foundation for progress in generative AI and high-performance computing.