Humanoid Robots May Be the Next Driver of Record Memory Demand
Micron believes memory prices could remain elevated for years, even if today's AI boom slows down or collapses. The company argues that demand from humanoid robots and other forms of physical AI will become an even larger driver of memory and storage consumption than AI data centers. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said each humanoid robot could require around 200GB of DRAM and several terabytes of storage, creating a significant new market for semiconductor manufacturers. Micron expects physical AI adoption to accelerate toward the end of the decade, with customers already testing next-generation memory products. Despite aggressive expansion of DRAM production capacity, the company does not expect supply to catch up with demand anytime soon. Micron also claims global memory demand currently exceeds supply by roughly 50%, helping keep prices near record levels. The outlook is supported by forecasts from Morgan Stanley, which predicts the humanoid robotics market could reach 930 million units annually and generate $5 trillion in yearly value by 2050. For consumers hoping cheaper RAM would follow the end of the AI frenzy, Micron's forecast suggests another demand wave may be waiting in the wings.