Top Links 1023 Financially conflicted. How Nvidia nudged Micron onto the AI train. Kültürkampf & Chinmaxxing Russian elites. - Adam Tooze | Substack

This article by Adam Tooze in the Chartbook Newsletter explores how NVIDIA has influenced Micron Technology's strategic shift toward artificial intelligence (AI). While Micron remains a key player in ... Read original →

NVIDIA is leveraging its AI chip architecture dominance to force Micron’s strategic pivot from a commodity DRAM vendor into a critical HBM enabler. Technically, the shift toward HBM3E/HBM4 intensifies reliance on TSV and CoWoS packaging, compelling Micron to deepen integration with TSMC and Samsung—upending its legacy memory-centric model. On compliance, while Micron benefits from U.S. CHIPS Act subsidies, its fabs in Taiwan, China and Xi’an face escalating supply chain fragmentation risks amid tightening U.S.-China AI export controls, necessitating aggressive customer diversification. Competitively, Samsung will accelerate HBM4 ramp-up to undercut Micron, while SK Hynix leverages early NVIDIA co-design access for sustained lead. Over the next 18 months, AI memory will be semiconductors’ steepest growth vector—but over-dependence on NVIDIA exposes Micron to architectural disruption: should AI chips pivot toward in-memory computing or optical interconnects, today’s ‘strategic alignment’ could become tomorrow’s lock-in trap.