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Micron starts western Japan chip plant expansion with ¥1.5 trillion investment

Micron starts western Japan chip plant expansion with ¥1.5 trillion investment

The Hiroshima project will make advanced memory including HBM for AI processors, with Japan offering up to ¥500 billion in subsidies and production expected to begin around summer 2028 amid intensifying AI memory competition.

Fact Check
Multiple authoritative outlets confirm all elements of the claim. The Japan Times (July 4, 2026) confirms the groundbreaking of the ¥1.5 trillion Hiroshima expansion producing HBM for AI processors, the up-to-¥500 billion METI subsidy, and the summer 2028 production/shipment target. Reuters and Nikkei Asia independently corroborate the ¥1.5 trillion investment and ¥500 billion subsidy figures.
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Summary

Micron Technology has broken ground on a roughly ¥1.5 trillion, or $9.3 billion, expansion in Hiroshima to produce advanced memory chips including high-bandwidth memory, a key component for AI accelerators. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is providing up to ¥500 billion in support, underscoring Tokyo’s push to strengthen domestic semiconductor manufacturing and AI-related supply chains. Production is expected to begin around summer 2028. The project comes as Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics race to expand HBM output to meet fast-rising demand from AI model training and inference, while customers increasingly lock in long-term supply years before new capacity comes online. Micron has also tied its AI strategy more closely to customers through a recent strategic agreement with Anthropic that includes memory architecture work, a multi-year supply deal and an investment in Anthropic’s Series H financing.

Terms & Concepts
  • high-bandwidth memory: An advanced memory format that increases data-transfer speed by stacking DRAM chips vertically, making it well suited for AI workloads.
  • AI accelerators: Specialized computing chips designed to speed up artificial intelligence training and inference tasks.
  • supply chains: The network of production and logistics needed to source, manufacture and deliver key technology components.