Japan backs Rapidus with ¥631.5bn
The Japanese government is investing ¥631.5 billion (about $4 billion) in subsidies to accelerate Rapidus and boost domestic AI chip production. The move is positioned as a national effort to strengthen local semiconductor capacity in the face of global competition. (x.com/i/status/2042823528185995319)
Japan approved another ¥631.5 billion in aid for Rapidus on April 11, pushing its chip project deeper into the center of industrial policy. (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp) The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said the money will go mainly to refining prototypes as Rapidus targets mass production of 2-nanometer semiconductors in fiscal 2027. Of the new package, ¥514.1 billion is for front-end wafer processing and ¥117.4 billion is for back-end assembly and packaging. (nippon.com) The latest package lifts cumulative state support since fiscal 2022 to as much as ¥2.454 trillion, according to Jiji Press. Bloomberg reported the government’s total fees and investments in Rapidus are set to reach about ¥2.6 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year ending in March 2027. (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp; bloomberg.com) Rapidus is Japan’s state-backed attempt to rebuild domestic production of the most advanced logic chips, the processors used in artificial intelligence servers, smartphones and data centers. The company was established in August 2022 with backing from eight Japanese firms including Toyota, Sony, SoftBank, NTT, NEC, Denso, Kioxia and MUFG Bank. (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp; rapidus.inc) Japan’s push comes after years of concern about relying on overseas manufacturing for advanced semiconductors, especially as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Samsung dominate leading-edge production. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s government has also outlined support of ¥10 trillion or more for chips and artificial intelligence by fiscal 2030. (cnbc.com; taipeitimes.com) Rapidus is building its main manufacturing base in Chitose, Hokkaido, and said its pilot line began in April 2025. The company says that line is the step before customer prototypes and full-scale output. (rapidus.inc) To get there, Rapidus has leaned on foreign partners. IBM said in June 2024 that it expanded its collaboration with Rapidus on chiplet packaging for 2-nanometer-generation semiconductors, adding to an earlier partnership on 2-nanometer process technology. (newsroom.ibm.com) The funding push does not settle the commercial questions around the project. Bloomberg reported Rapidus still aims to raise roughly ¥3 trillion from private investors and targets an initial public offering around fiscal 2031, while a February company announcement said it had completed a ¥267.6 billion funding round that included ¥167.6 billion from 32 private-sector companies. (bloomberg.com; rapidus.inc) Industry minister Ryosei Akazawa said at a Chitose ceremony on April 11 that the government would provide the support needed to help the mass-production plan succeed. The next test is whether Rapidus can turn state money, pilot-line progress and IBM-backed technology into paying customers before 2027. (nippon.com; bloomberg.com)
