Micron CEO announces $10 billion R&D investment over decade to advance AI memory technology

Published Aug 21, 10:07 PM UTC

Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra announced a $10 billion investment over the next decade in Micron Research Labs, a long-horizon research institution based in Boise. The investment aims to develop advanced memory technologies, compute architectures, and chip manufacturing beyond current roadmaps. Mehrotra emphasized that memory is 'strategic infrastructure of AI' and no longer a commodity. The move comes as Micron's stock has tripled in 2026, driven by surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM). However, Micron faces stiff competition from SK Hynix, which holds 58% of the HBM market, compared to Micron's 21%. The research push is both offensive, to shape future AI hardware, and defensive, to keep pace with rivals generating significant cash flow.