Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra detailed the company’s new $250 billion U.S. investment as the chip-making giant responds to surging demand for memory storage in the age of artificial intelligence.
The Boise-based technology company announced Thursday the billion-dollar investment will help Micron’s long-term objective of producing 40% of its DRAM chips in the United States.
“The demand for memory is at unprecedented levels. Memory is in deep shortage right now,” Mehrotra told “The Claman Countdown” on Thursday.
With existing semiconductor facilities in Idaho and Virginia, Micron is expanding its footprint by opening a new manufacturing site in central New York.
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FOX Business’ Liz Claman joined the CEO during the first concrete pour at the new location.
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Mehrotra told Claman that memory is the key enabler of AI innovation and said data centers make up more than 50% of the demand.
“Memory is essential to AI,” he said. “AI is driving the demand, and that’s where the value of memory is really high because it enables the performance of AI.”
More memory allows AI to increase accuracy, speed and intelligence, Mehrotra explained.
But while data centers are driving demand for Micron, the need for memory also stems from virtually every modern technology, including smartphones, computers and cars, that rely on data storage.
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“The demand is very strong for memory today,” the CEO said. “Memory is critical for AI across data center, consumer devices, automotive, industrial, defense, aerospace.”
“Your phone, your PC, your car, they all need memory,” he added. “Automobiles, fully self-driving cars are like data centers on wheels. They require a lot of memory and storage.”
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Micron’s technologies, including DRAM, NAND and NOR chips, support the evolution of compute-intensive applications and artificial intelligence platforms. The company plans to invest $3 billion in the domestic semiconductor industry to strengthen America’s manufacturing footprint.
Mehrotra said demand will only grow as advanced technologies continue to evolve, noting that more sophisticated systems require greater computing power and memory capacity.
“In the future, when we look at robotics coming in, fully self-driving cars, these all need intelligence. Intelligence is about data. Where does data live? It lives in the memory,” he said.
Micron expects the initiative will create thousands of direct and indirect jobs while expanding domestic chip manufacturing.
Mehrotra said he hopes the investment will help boost domestic production, though surging demand continues to outpace supply.
“Despite our best efforts to accelerate bringing up supply here, as well as globally… The demand continues to build up and we do not see when supply catches up with demand,” the CEO said.
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