Intel's former CEO Pat Gelsinger says this Georgia Tech memory chip could be the industry's biggest breakthrough in 30 years; what is it and how could it transform AI industry?

Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has backed an emerging memory tech. It is a semiconductor startup developing a new memory technology called Z2RAM. In an interview with The Register, he said "Essentially, we’ve had no major forms of innovation in memory for three decades." He also pointed out that SRAM, DRAM, and Flash remain the three major memory technologies in broad deployment. He also believes that the technology could change this by combining the strongest characteristics of these existing memory types. He described Z2RAM as a technology that could offer DRAM-like density, SRAM-like speed and Flash-like manufacturing scalability.

Gelsinger told El Reg that "Essentially, we’ve had no major forms of innovation in memory for three decades – SRAM, DRAM, and Flash as the only memory types in broad deployment."

All about Nagare Labs

Nagare Labs was founded by Georgia Institute of Technology professors and researchers Suman Datta and Shimeng Yu. They spent years working on next-generation memory technologies. Their work involves oxide semiconductors. The company is based on research conducted at Georgia Tech and is seeking to turn its laboratory developments into a commercially viable memory product.

What makes Z2RAM different?

Z2RAM is designed to deliver speeds comparable to SRAM while offering storage density closer to DRAM. Its architecture is designed to allow memory cells to be stacked vertically.

Nagare claims its first-generation design could offer more than five times the bit density of SRAM in the same physical area.

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Why could this be important for the AI industry?

Z2RAM is designed to place high-capacity memory directly on top of the processor rather than relying on conventional memory arrangements. The company says the technology could be particularly useful for AI accelerators that need large amounts of fast memory.

How much money has it raised?

Nagare Labs has reportedly raised $5 million in seed funding. The funding round was led by Playground Global. Gelsinger is a general partner at Playground Global and also serves on Nagare's board. The aim of the investment is at developing Z2RAM beyond its current laboratory prototype stage.