Micron strengthening mfg footprint in India

New Delhi: As artificial intelligence systems grow more powerful and data-hungry, the pressure on memory and storage technology is intensifying, best exemplified by RAM prices rising in recent months. This is why Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO and president of Micron Technology, thinks the next phase of AI will be shaped as much by advances in memory as by breakthroughs in algorithms. Speaking at the India AI Summit in New Delhi on Friday, Mehrotra pointed to the rising demands of real-time processing and increasingly large contextual models, which require ever greater performance from DRAM and NAND solutions. DRAM or dynamic random access memory, provides the high-speed working memory that allows AI systems and computers to process data in real time, while NAND flash is used for long-term storage, retaining vast amounts of information even when devices are powered off. Since establishing its presence in India in 2019, Micron built large research and development centres in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, employing nearly 4,000 people. Mehrotra said that in a short span of time they have 300 inventors based in India whose patent contributions are approaching nearly 2,000. Calling the local team "phenomenal", Mehrotra said he was proud that some of the company's most advanced DRAM products are being designed in India in collaboration with US teams. The company is also strengthening its manufacturing footprint. Micron is investing over $2.7 billion in an advanced packaging, assembly and test facility in Sanand, Gujarat, with backing from the central and state govts.