Deep inside every advanced AI chip is a thin, specialized material most people have never heard of: Ajinomoto Build-up Film, or ABF. Made by the Japanese food and chemical company best known for its seasoning products, ABF acts as a critical layer in the substrates that connect a chip's intricate circuitry. Without it, the processors powering data centers and AI models simply can't be built at scale.
As demand for AI chips has surged, so has the spotlight on ABF — and with it, the temptation to raise prices. Ajinomoto is resisting that temptation, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company says it can meet demand through 2030 and has chosen to expand production capacity rather than capitalize on its near-monopoly position by hiking prices.
New production from that expansion is expected to come online in 2032, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The decision reflects a deliberate long-term strategy: keeping customers — chipmakers who have few alternatives — locked in through reliability and partnership rather than short-term profit extraction. Price hikes might boost quarterly earnings, but they could also accelerate efforts by rivals or chip companies themselves to develop substitute materials.
For the broader semiconductor industry, Ajinomoto's stance matters because ABF is one of those invisible chokepoints that rarely makes headlines until something goes wrong. A price spike or supply crunch in this single material could ripple across the entire AI hardware supply chain, affecting everyone from chip designers to cloud providers. The company's commitment to stable pricing offers a measure of predictability in an industry already navigating tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and relentless demand growth.