Lam Research says it will spend $3B to speed up chip R&D for AI demand

Lam Research, the semiconductor equipment maker, says it will invest more than $3 billion over five years to expand its global network of research and development labs, aiming to lift experiment capacity by over 50%. The company frames this as a response to AI-driven demand for chips built with new architectures, materials and nanoscale features, arguing that faster R&D cycles now give it a competitive edge. Lam's existing labs across the US, Asia and Europe already run more than one million experiments annually, and the company says recent customer work has cut process development time by up to 2.5 times. Chief executive Tim Archer frames the spending as staying ahead of customer needs rather than reacting to a shortfall.