MU CEO drops $10 billion to establish the Micron Research Institute: 1. Memory takes the lead, no longer just a sidekick to CPUs and GPUs Sanjay sets the tone: Memory is no longer just a component; it’s now strategic infrastructure for AI! 2. Memory defines AI’s intelligence ceiling The capacity, speed, and power consumption of memory directly determine how smart AI can be. 3. The longer the context, the more memory you need With the explosion of massive context data, how do we store it and manage high-frequency scheduling? This will fully activate the demand pyramid for memory, from HBM and DRAM to SSDs! The entire storage industry chain is about to experience a massive boom. 4. $10 billion invested in fundamental research—AI’s second half is all about breaking through the foundations The current bottleneck lies in physical limits: memory isn’t fast enough, big enough, power-efficient enough, or cost-effective enough. These hard constraints can’t be solved by tweaking code; breakthroughs must come from fundamental materials science and semiconductor physics. Whoever cracks these foundational technologies first will truly lead in the AI era. Even during the global semiconductor winter of 2023, when the industry faced a massive downturn, Micron has gritted its teeth and stuck to heavy R&D and capital investments. With 62,000 patents and cutting-edge technology that keeps evolving, Micron’s leading memory manufacturing is returning to its home turf. In the future, Micron will not only reap the rewards of technological advancements but also face fierce competition from South Korea’s Samsung and SK Hynix head-on.