Trend AI investment boom fuels a memory semiconductor supercycle unlike past cycles

Summary

KISDI observes that the boom in AI investment has sharply increased memory demand and raised expectations of a semiconductor supercycle. Investment in AI infrastructure by big tech and new entrants may grow even faster than before, with projects such as Stargate and GPU-as-a-service cited as examples. The institute lists the spread of AI inference, full-scale AI adoption in business markets, the arrival of agentic AI and competition over sovereign AI as the main drivers. It argues that this upturn differs from earlier cycles because the three memory makers, Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron, now manage supply instead of fighting price wars, while US big tech demand is sturdier than ever. With corporate infrastructure spending and national support, the expansion phase is expected to last, and the evolution of AI toward reasoning and physical AI should keep chip demand high.