SoftBank and Intel Team Up to Build Next-Gen AI Memory Chips That Could Halve Power Consumption

A New Challenger Enters the Memory Chip Arena

SoftBank and Intel have announced a strategic partnership to develop next-generation memory chips specifically designed for artificial intelligence data centres. The collaboration centres on a new company called Saimemory, which will develop what the companies are calling Z-Angle operation memory technology.

What Makes This Different

The technology aims to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing AI infrastructure: power consumption. Current high-bandwidth memory chips, while excellent at handling the massive data throughput required by AI systems, consume enormous amounts of electricity and generate significant heat. Saimemory's approach uses a different wiring structure that could reduce power consumption by approximately fifty percent.

The partnership brings together Intel's semiconductor manufacturing expertise and technology, SoftBank's financial backing and strategic vision, and patents from Japanese academic institutions including the University of Tokyo. A former Toshiba executive will serve as CEO, with Intel providing the CTO and a University of Tokyo scientist taking the role of Chief Science Officer.

Timeline and Investment

The project is valued at approximately seventy million dollars, with SoftBank contributing the largest share. Development costs through fiscal twenty twenty-seven are estimated at around fifty-three million dollars. The companies are targeting a prototype by twenty twenty-seven, with commercial availability planned for fiscal year twenty twenty-nine.

The venture also represents Japan's ambitions to reclaim influence in the memory chip sector. Japanese firms dominated global memory production in the nineteen eighties, manufacturing around seventy percent of the world's supply, before being overtaken by South Korean and Taiwanese competitors.

The Bigger Picture

With data centres expected to consume seventy percent of global memory chip production by twenty twenty-six, the demand for more efficient memory solutions has never been greater. The current market is controlled by just three companies: Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. Saimemory aims to offer a competitive alternative, initially prioritising Japanese data centres before expanding globally.