Micron Technology announced yesterday that it plans to invest up to $100 million in startups engaged in artificial intelligence (AI) technology to accelerate its influence in emerging areas such as autonomous vehicles and factory automation.

Micron is particularly interested in investing in autonomous vehicle technology, enhancements and virtual reality, as well as technology for factory automation, because Micron believes that by expanding its participation in these areas, it will eventually be able to sell more memory chips, such as artificial intelligence, a large amount of data processed by the domain needs to be stored on Micron's products.

These funds will be invested in hardware and software start-ups in the field of artificial intelligence. Among them, one-fifth of venture capital investment funds will be invested in enterprises led by women and other minority groups. Sumit Sadana, the chief business officer of Micron, said: “Micron launched a corporate venture investment plan more than a decade ago, but so far these investments have been very fragmented, and we will significantly accelerate our investment strategy."

In addition, the Micron Foundation will provide $1 million in funding for university and non-profit organizations to conduct artificial intelligence research, there are three organizations have received funding, including the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research Laboratory, the Stanford Center for Precision Health and Comprehensive Diagnostics, and AAI4All, a non-profit organization that specializes in summer camps for minority students in the field.