Japan's Rapidus Secures Funding for 2nm Chips
Japanese semiconductor firm Rapidus has secured 267.6 billion yen in a funding round backed by the Japanese government and private companies. The investment will support the company's plan to begin mass production of 2-nanometer logic semiconductors by 2027.
Rapidus was established in August 2022 as a consortium of eight major Japanese companies, including Toyota, Sony, and SoftBank, in a government-led effort to revive the nation's advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Japan's global market share in semiconductors peaked at over 50% in the 1980s before declining significantly. The company is not developing its 2nm process from scratch; it is critically dependent on international partners. Rapidus is collaborating with IBM to develop and manufacture chips using IBM's 2nm nanosheet gate-all-around (GAA) FET technology and with Belgium's leading microelectronics research hub, Imec, to access advanced R&D. The 2027 target for mass production places Rapidus about two years behind its primary competitors. Industry giants TSMC and Samsung both began rolling out their 2nm processes in late 2025, with Intel targeting a similar timeline for its comparable 18A node. The performance leap of 2nm technology is crucial for AI and high-performance computing. IBM's 2nm prototype demonstrated a 45% performance increase or a 75% reduction in power consumption compared to 7nm chips, enabling more powerful and efficient processing for demanding machine learning workloads. Building a leading-edge fab carries a colossal price tag. A 2nm-capable fabrication plant is estimated to cost around $28 billion, up from approximately $20 billion for a 3nm facility. The entire Rapidus project is expected to require about 5 trillion yen (roughly $37 billion) in total funding. Construction on the main Rapidus factory, known as IIM-1, began in Chitose, Hokkaido, in September 2023. A pilot production line is expected to start in 2025, with the goal of ramping up to full-scale manufacturing by the 2027 deadline. Despite its later entry, Rapidus has already secured a customer for its future production. In early 2024, the company was contracted to produce next-generation AI chips for the Canadian startup Tenstorrent.
