SoftBank and Intel collaborate on new AI memory chip that will cut power consumption in half

SoftBank Group and Intel Corp. are joining forces in a major collaboration to develop a new AI-specific memory chip, which is expected to achieve significant reductions in power consumption, Globe reports, citing Nikkei Asia. The two companies plan to design a new type of stacked DRAM chip, which adopts a different wiring method from the existing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and is expected to reduce power consumption by about half. This innovative design will effectively improve the chip's energy efficiency ratio, which has implications for lowering the operating costs of AI data centers and promoting green computing. Saimemory, a newly established company, is responsible for the development project, which is understood to be based on technology derived from Intel, combined with patents from Japanese universities such as the University of Tokyo, etc. Saimemory will focus on chip design and patent management, while the manufacturing of the chips will be handled by an external foundry.