Tech Explained: SoftBank Corp. Subsidiary SAIMEMORY and Intel Collaborate on Next-generation Memory for AI in Simple Terms

SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is building out next-generation social infrastructure in Japan, and AI data centers are a key part of this initiative. Currently there is a shift from model training to inference—the operational phase of AI—and this requires the transfer of large volumes of data to GPUs. This means it is becoming increasingly necessary to secure memory with high capacity, high bandwidth and low power consumption characteristics.

To address the challenge, on February 2, 2026, SAIMEMORY, a wholly owned SoftBank subsidiary based in Tokyo, signed a collaborative agreement with Intel to advance the commercialization of Z-Angle Memory (ZAM), a next-generation memory technology.

Aiming to create prototypes in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2028 (FY2027), and achieve commercialization in FY2029, SAIMEMORY will conduct research and development on innovative memory architectures and manufacturing technologies.

In the process, SAIMEMORY will leverage the next-generation memory foundational technologies and technical expertise validated by Intel’s Next Generation DRAM Bonding (NGDB) initiative*1 that was completed under the Advanced Memory Technology (AMT) program*2 managed by the U.S. Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration through the Sandia National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

By utilizing ZAM next-generation memory technology, SAIMEMORY and Intel will work together to enable high-capacity and high-bandwidth data processing, enhanced processing performance and reduced power consumption in data centers and other environments that require the training and inference of large-scale AI models.

Established in December 2024, SAIMEMORY is conducting research and development to promote the commercialization of next-generation memory technologies, which represents one of SoftBank’s key initiatives to support next-generation social infrastructure.

• *¹

  NGBD initiative: a technology development initiative led by Intel, aimed at significantly improving the performance and power efficiency of next-generation DRAM (high-speed memory used as the main memory in computers and servers).

• *²

  AMT program: supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, the AMT program is a research program that aims to establish foundational technologies for next-generation memory.

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(Posted on February 3, 2026)
by SoftBank News Editors