Micron CEO Sounds Alarm on AI Memory Crunch — Supply May Not Catch Up Until 2028 as Demand Keeps Growing: MU Stock Falls 4% (UPDATED)

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Micron Technology Inc. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said memory supply shows no sign of catching up with artificial intelligence-driven demand, citing long-term customer agreements locking in years of committed supply as evidence that the current boom is structural, not cyclical.

"We see no end when supply catches up with demand, and the demand continues to grow," Mehrotra told CNBC's Jim Cramer on Friday.

He said Micron's five-year customer agreements, which can be extended, give the company "assurance of demand," even as "nothing ever goes in a straight line."

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"Today there is no AI without memory," Mehrotra said, adding that AI systems increasingly require higher-performance, lower-power memory that will eventually extend demand beyond data centers into autonomous vehicles, robotics and AI-enabled consumer devices.

Daniel Newman , CEO of The Futurum Group , said on X that Mehrotra "finally said the quiet part out loud," adding the AI-driven demand cycle "may never end" as data center buildouts give way to robotics, autonomy and physical AI.

$MU CEO finally said the quiet part out loud. The AI powered demand cycle may never end. AI data center boom and then comes robots, autonomy, and physical AI. The memory wall is growing taller. 👀 — Daniel Newman (@danielnewmanUV) August 23, 2026

$MU CEO finally said the quiet part out loud. The AI powered demand cycle may never end. AI data center boom and then comes robots, autonomy, and physical AI. The memory wall is growing taller. 👀

Daniel Newman (@danielnewmanUV) August 23, 2026

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Yorkville Ives Senior Managing Director Dan Ives told CNBC the memory trade has become "foundational, not cyclical," estimating demand-to-supply ratios in AI memory at roughly 15-to-1.

"Memory players, right now it's their world and everyone else is paying rent," Ives added.

On Thursday, Micron disclosed the launch of Micron Research Labs, a $10 billion, 10-year investment in a U.S.-based research hub anchored by a flagship campus in Boise, aimed at advancing memory and AI technologies.

Not Everyone Agrees Memory Demand Is Permanent

ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood has taken the opposite view, avoiding memory suppliers like Micron and SK Hynix Inc. as today's extraordinary pricing is more likely to invite competition and engineering workarounds than persist indefinitely.