Chip Stocks Rise on OpenAI’s Stargate Project and AI Memory Demand Hype
Chip stocks rallied on Thursday after reports that South Korea’s largest tech companies signed preliminary agreements to supply chips for OpenAI’s Stargate project. The news fueled optimism about soaring demand for artificial intelligence memory.
Major Chipmakers Gain
Several leading chipmakers saw strong gains:
- Micron (NASDAQ:MU) rose 1%
- Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) gained 3%
- NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) added 1%
- SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) jumped 4.6%
- Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) increased 2%
- Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) climbed 3%
- Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) surged 4%
OpenAI’s Data Center Push
The rally came after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman signed letters of intent with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to supply chips for massive new data centers.
Reports suggest OpenAI could require up to 900,000 wafers per month as the Stargate project scales up. This would more than double the current global high-bandwidth memory (HBM) capacity, underscoring the unprecedented scale of the initiative.
Analysts Question Demand Projections
Not all analysts agree with the forecast. KC Rajkumar of LYNX Equity Strategies said the 900,000 estimate “looks like a typo,” suggesting even 90,000 wafers per month would be difficult to justify.
Despite doubts, enthusiasm for the project reflects the global race to expand AI infrastructure. The Stargate initiative is expected to require trillions of dollars in investment, covering chips, servers, cooling technology, and electricity.
