Micron, a U.S. memory chip company, will invest $10 billion (about 14 trillion won) over the next 10 years to build a large-scale memory research and development (R&D) hub in the United States. As artificial intelligence (AI) spreads and the importance of high-performance memory grows, the company is accelerating efforts to secure next-generation memory, advanced packaging, and semiconductor process technology.
According to the industry on the 21st, Micron said on the 20th (local time) that it will establish a memory-focused research hub in Boise, Idaho. Boise is where Micron's headquarters is located.
Micron plans to invest $10 billion in the research hub over the next 10 years. Construction will begin next year, and the company plans to secure a research workforce numbering in the hundreds.
The new research hub will study next-generation memory, high-performance computing architecture, advanced packaging, and future semiconductor manufacturing processes. In addition to its own research, Micron plans to pursue joint research with customers, universities, U.S. government agencies, and startups.
The Boise research hub will also connect with existing technology bases in Europe, Japan, India, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Micron is expanding its R&D investment because, with the growth of the AI data center market, memory is emerging as the key component that determines overall system performance.
As AI models grow in size, it becomes more important to quickly supply large volumes of data to computing devices such as graphics processing units (GPUs). As a result, competition in high-performance, low-power memory technologies, including high bandwidth memory (HBM), is intensifying.
Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron's chief executive officer (CEO), said, "There is no AI today without memory," and added, "AI systems need more memory, higher performance, and lower-power memory."
The investment comes as the U.S. government strengthens policies to bring not only semiconductor production but also research and development capabilities back home. Howard Lutnick, the U.S. commerce secretary, evaluated memory as a key element of U.S. technological competitiveness and said the investment will contribute to semiconductor innovation and the creation of high-quality jobs in the United States.