Micron Technology has broken ground on a US$9.3 billion (approximately GBP 7.2 billion) expansion of its memory chip manufacturing facility in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, in the latest sign of the global race to meet surging AI-driven demand for high-bandwidth memory.
The project will significantly increase production of advanced memory chips, including high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in Nvidia and other AI processors. Commercial shipments are expected to begin around summer 2028. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has committed up to US$3.1 billion (GBP 2.4 billion) in subsidies to support the expansion.
“The company’s first HBM production wafer was manufactured at its Hiroshima facility,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron’s president and CEO. He described the project as demonstrating “the strength of combining American innovation with Japanese manufacturing expertise” that delivers “world-class semiconductor technology rather than a compromise.”
The Hiroshima facility is currently Japan’s only domestic producer of DRAM memory chips. The expansion is part of a broader investment cycle in which memory manufacturers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics are also pouring capital into new production capacity.
Japan’s government has committed tens of billions of dollars to semiconductors and AI since 2021, viewing the sector as critical to national and economic security. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently unveiled a long-term roadmap aiming to mobilise approximately US$630 billion (GBP 487 billion) in combined public and private investment in semiconductors and AI through March 2041.
Japan’s Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa signalled that Tokyo is prepared to extend similar support to other international semiconductor companies. “The government’s support for Micron has invaluable worth,” Akazawa said. “Japan is prepared to provide similar support to other international semiconductor companies looking to establish manufacturing operations in the country.”
Micron is simultaneously expanding domestic manufacturing in the United States, with two leading-edge fabrication plants in Boise, Idaho, and a US$100 billion (GBP 77 billion) semiconductor manufacturing campus in Syracuse, New York, which broke ground in January 2026.
Sources: US semiconductor giant begins $9.3-billion chip plant expansion in Japan (Interesting Engineering, July 5, 2026)