How nudge from Nvidia propelled frugal Micron into AI boom and $1 trillion market cap - The Korea Times

Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technology, shows a chip on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, April 26, 2024. Reuters-Yonhap

SAN FRANCISCO — Micron Technology's march toward a $1 trillion valuation is nothing if not dramatic: a year ago it was a little over $100 billion.

That surge, though, was not built on its famed frugality, but on a nearly too-late push from Nvidia that pulled the U.S. memory chipmaker into the center of the AI boom.

For decades, the Idaho-based company survived by building factories on a shoestring budget, adopting used equipment and avoiding cutting-edge bets. That discipline helped it endure brutal boom-bust cycles in memory chips and outlast rivals, leaving it one of three global suppliers alongside Korea’s Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

But that approach of treating memory chips as a commodity clashed with Nvidia’s vision for AI.