Micron announces USD 10 billion research investment, adds to US manufacturing push

The chipmaker on Thursday unveiled Micron Research Labs -- a US-based research hub headquartered in Boise. Taking to X, Mehrotra said the research labs "will bring together our customers, suppliers, academia, government and the broader semiconductor ecosystem to pursue breakthroughs beyond today's technology roadmaps and define what is possible in the years ahead."

He further added, the initiative adds to more than USD 250 billion in investments in American manufacturing, which are expected to create over 90,000 jobs across sectors.

"The Micron Research Labs joins more than USD 250 billion of investment in American manufacturing that will create over 90,000 American jobs. Fabs, engineers, technicians, apprentices, suppliers, whole communities," he said.

"We are funding the next generation of those questions now, before the world asks for the answers," he noted.

According to a company release, Micron Research Labs will focus on key areas including advanced memory technologies, memory and compute architectures, semiconductor packaging and next-generation manufacturing.

US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said memory is central to America's technological leadership and welcomed Micron's investment in domestic semiconductor capabilities.

"Memory is a core component of America's technological leadership, and under President Trump, the United States is advancing domestic semiconductor capabilities," Lutnick said.

"Today, Micron announced the establishment of the first dedicated Memory Research Lab along with a $10 billion investment in memory research. This commitment will strengthen American innovation, create hundreds of jobs and ensure memory never limits innovation," he added.

Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, said Micron was addressing a major challenge for the AI industry by developing new memory technologies and architectures.

"Micron is taking on one of the great challenges of the AI era -- reinventing memory technologies and architectures to fuel the next generation of increasingly powerful AI systems," Huang said.

"By bringing together advanced manufacturing and the broader technology ecosystem, Micron is helping drive the breakthroughs that will define the next era of AI and computing," he added.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said Micron had been an important partner to Apple for more than two decades and praised the company's new research initiative."For more than two decades, Micron has been an important partner, providing memory technologies for Apple's groundbreaking products that people love and use every day around the world," Cook said.

"With the launch of Micron Research Labs, they are building on a legacy of leadership in semiconductor research to drive breakthroughs in memory and computing for decades to come. Apple believes deeply in American innovation, and we're proud to support Micron as it expands leading-edge manufacturing and R&D in the United States," he added.

Micron said it expects to break ground in 2027 on a state-of-the-art research facility in Boise capable of hosting hundreds of researchers. The facility is also expected to host research conferences, workshops and innovation forums.

The research hub will be connected to Micron's existing research and technology centres across the US, Europe, Japan, India, Singapore and Taiwan, bringing together company researchers, external experts and research partners to accelerate the transition from scientific discovery to commercial applications. (ANI)