March 10 (Reuters) – Applied Materials said on Tuesday it has partnered with memory chip companies Micron Technology and ‌SK Hynix to develop next-generation chips that are crucial ‌for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

Micron and SK Hynix will serve as founding ​partners at Applied Materials’ research center to develop the chips, called Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization, or EPIC, Center.

Applied Materials said its EPIC Center represents a planned $5 billion investment in semiconductor equipment ‌research and development, with ⁠capital spending anticipated to scale over time to that amount as customer projects begin.

The announcements come ⁠as rapid build-out of AI infrastructure by U.S. tech firms such as OpenAI, Alphabet’s Google and Microsoft drives demand for memory chips, ​tightening supply ​and pushing up prices.

South Korea’s ​Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron — ‌the world’s three largest producers of memory chips — have all said they were struggling to keep up with demand.

Big Tech firms are expected to spend at least $630 billion to build AI infrastructure this year.

With Micron, Applied Materials’ partnership will focus on advancing ‌DRAM, high-bandwidth memory and NAND, combining ​expertise from Applied’s EPIC Center and ​Micron’s innovation hub in ​Boise, Idaho.

The partnership with SK Hynix will focus ‌on improving materials for memory chips, ​process integration and ​3D advanced packaging for next-generation DRAM and HBM at the EPIC Center.

In 2023, Applied Materials had said it would ​spend up to $4 ‌billion on the research center, which it had then estimated ​to come online in 2026.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in ​Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)