Advanced domestic semiconductor capabilities are a top priority for the United States, and Micron Technology, Inc. is pursuing that goal by setting up its first dedicated Memory Research laboratory and making a $10 billion investment in memory research.
The company says that it plans to start construction in 2027 of a state-of-the-art facility capable of accommodating hundreds of researchers.
The facility is expected to host research conferences, workshops, and innovation forums in Boise.
When it is completed, the new technology and manufacturing research center will bring together customers, academia, government, and the wider semiconductor ecosystem to promote research into critical memory technologies, advanced memory and computer architectures, packaging, and future semiconductor manufacturing.
Supported by a planned $10 billion investment over the next ten years, Micron Research Labs will carry out advanced research in key technology areas and fund collaborations with universities, global satellite laboratories, and deep ecosystem partnerships, establishing a connected research network focused on technologies beyond the next generation for the AI era.
Based in Boise and linked to Micron's research and technology activities throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, India, Singapore and Taiwan, the lab will connect Micron's researchers with external experts and research partners in order to speed up the transition from scientific discovery to real-world impact.
Building on its 62,000 lifetime patents and its status as a global technology leader, Micron Research Labs will also be helping to develop the next generation of memory researchers and technology leaders.
Advances in advanced memory make AI more powerful, scalable, accessible and sustainable, extending the benefits of intelligent technology to agriculture, healthcare, education and industries all over the world and helping to realize Micron's vision of accelerating intelligence to improve life for all.
Future intelligent systems will be determined by engineers who push the frontiers of semiconductor devices and advanced manufacturing.
The press release states that this new investment is based on Micron's earlier announcement to invest more than $250 billion in manufacturing and research and development in the United States, which will create more than 90,000 American jobs and strengthen American leadership in memory and advanced manufacturing for years to come.
“The decisions we make today will determine who leads the AI economy of tomorrow, and America's AI future will be built on American-made memory," said Sanjay Mehrotra, chairman, president and CEO of Micron Technology. "With a planned $10 billion investment in Micron Research Labs, we are looking around the corner to the memory and compute systems the future will demand, bringing together the best minds across academia, government, startups and industry. This builds on the more than $250 billion we have separately committed to manufacturing and R&D across the United States, because as the only U.S.-based manufacturer of memory, we have long believed in the future that AI is now making real.”
This new investment takes advantage of Micron's unique position as the only U.S.-based company that is developing and manufacturing leading-edge memory.
"What started with four people in a basement in Boise fifty years ago is now pushing the boundaries of what memory can do," said Scott DeBoer, executive vice president and chief technology and products officer at Micron Technology. "Micron Research Labs provides that legacy with a dedicated focus on long-term innovation — the type of research that comes before every product we develop."
Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, said that Micron is tackling one of the major challenges of the AI era — reimagining memory technologies and architectures to power the next generation of ever more powerful AI systems.
Executives from Apple and Applied Materials, Lam Research, the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center, Stanford University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Texas Institute for Electronics also commented on their leadership in semiconductor research to promote advances in memory and computing, in new materials, equipment, process technology and chip packaging.
Tsu-Jae King Liu, president of the National Academy of Engineering, said that future intelligent systems will be determined by engineers who push the frontiers of semiconductor devices and advanced manufacturing in order to achieve more affordable, energy-efficient computing and innovative memory solutions.
Micron Research Labs shows a strong commitment to supporting collaborative, long-term research and to developing the engineering talent that our nation needs. By bringing together industry, universities and government, this new center of discovery and innovation will strengthen the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem and ensure that America remains at the forefront.
Micron Technology, Inc. is a global leader in semiconductor memory and storage, powering AI and compute-intensive applications from the cloud to the edge.