Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) announced a new partnership with Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) aimed at developing advanced memory technologies tailored for artificial intelligence workloads. The joint effort will take place at Applied’s EPIC Center in Silicon Valley and Micron’s research facility in Boise, Idaho.
The collaboration will focus on next-generation memory solutions, including DRAM, high-bandwidth memory and NAND storage, with the goal of improving energy efficiency and performance in AI systems. Engineers from both companies will work together on new materials, manufacturing processes and architectural designs for these technologies.
“Applied Materials and Micron have a long-standing partnership focused on driving higher performance and more energy-efficient advanced memory chips,” said Gary Dickerson, president and CEO of Applied Materials.
Sanjay Mehrotra, chairman, president and CEO of Micron Technology, added that “memory and storage are essential enablers of AI, and sustained innovation in these technologies is critical to unlocking AI’s full potential.”
The initiative will also include work on advanced packaging technologies intended to support high-bandwidth, low-power memory solutions optimized for AI applications. The partnership builds on the companies’ ongoing collaboration in materials engineering and semiconductor innovation.
Applied’s EPIC Center represents a planned $5 billion investment in semiconductor equipment research and development in Silicon Valley. The facility is designed to accelerate the path from research breakthroughs to commercial manufacturing.
Spending on the center is expected to scale to about $5 billion as customer projects ramp up. Scheduled to open this year, the EPIC Center will give chipmakers earlier access to Applied’s research capabilities and help speed the transfer of new technologies into large-scale production. The site will also host co-innovation programs with industry partners.