US bets over $6bn to bring back DRAM

The US government is to provide up to $6.15bn to Micron Technology to bring volume DRAM memory production back to the country.

The funding is part of an ambitious $120bn plan to bring back advanced DRAM production in Idaho and New York, including high bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI and legacy DRAM production in Virginia. The company ‘sold out’ of HBM production this year.

The direct funding under the CHIPS Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities follows a preliminary memorandum of terms in April and the completion of the Department’s due diligence.

The long term plan, announced in October 2022, will see approximately $100 billion for a fab in Clay, New York, due to start by 2030, and $25 billion in Idaho, which will create approximately 20,000 jobs and will help the US grow its share of advanced memory manufacturing from less than 2% today to approximately 10% by 2035 with an investment of $50bn.

Micron broke ground on a fab in Idaho in May last year alongside its research and development centre, having sold its fab in Lehi, Utah, to Texas Instruments.   

There is an additional deal for $275m for the fab in Manassas , Virginia, as part of a $2bn expansion over the next several years. The proposed project would onshore Micron’s 1-alpha process technology to its Manassas facility, significantly increasing monthly wafer output for automotive and industrial markets. The 1-alpha process was launched in 2021 and is used for the latest LPDDR5 DRAM chips, but is being superseded by the 1-beta and 1-gamma processes.

“Memory chips are foundational to all advanced technologies, and thanks to the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, America is rebuilding its capacity to produce these critical capabilities, said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “With this investment in Micron, we are delivering on one of the core objectives of the CHIPS program – onshoring the development and production of the most advanced memory semiconductor technology, which is crucial for safeguarding our leadership on artificial intelligence and protecting our economic and national security.” 

“As the only US-based manufacturer of memory, Micron is uniquely positioned to bring leading-edge memory manufacturing to the U.S., strengthening the country’s technology leadership and fostering advanced innovation,” said Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra.

“This historic leading-edge memory megafab in Central New York will deliver benefits beyond the semiconductor industry by strengthening U.S. technology leadership as well as economic and national security, driving American innovation and competitiveness for decades to come.”