Japan backs domestic AI chips
Japan approved roughly ¥631.5 billion (about $4bn) in subsidies for Rapidus to build domestic AI chip capacity, and several private firms including SoftBank, NEC and Honda launched a new domestic AI development company. The combined public and private moves aim to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers for AI compute and accelerate local chipmaking efforts. (x.com/business/status/2042823528185995319; x.com/nhk_news/status/2043290735726178790)
Japan is pouring more public money into homegrown chips as its biggest companies assemble a domestic artificial intelligence effort. (reuters.com) Japan’s industry ministry approved an additional ¥631.5 billion, about $4 billion, for Rapidus on April 11 to speed research and development on advanced semiconductors. Jiji Press said the new package brings cumulative state support for Rapidus since fiscal 2022 to as much as ¥2.454 trillion. (reuters.com; japannews.yomiuri.co.jp) Rapidus is building a plant in Chitose, Hokkaido, and is targeting mass production of 2-nanometer chips in fiscal 2027. The latest aid is meant mainly for refining prototypes, according to Jiji Press. (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp) A chip is the processor that runs software, and advanced artificial intelligence systems need large numbers of the fastest chips to train models and answer queries. Japan has relied heavily on overseas suppliers for that computing power, especially as Nvidia-designed systems and Taiwan-made production have become central to the global artificial intelligence boom. (reuters.com; bloomberg.com) The parallel corporate move is aimed at the software side of that same problem. A new company backed mainly by SoftBank Corp., NEC Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Sony Group Corp. has been set up to build a Japanese foundation model, the large underlying system that can be adapted for many tasks. (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp; asahi.com) Yomiuri said SoftBank and NEC will handle model development, while Honda and Sony plan to use the systems in cars, robots, games and semiconductors. Asahi said the new company plans to apply for a government program run by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, which is seeking domestic foundation-model projects. (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp; asahi.com) Rapidus is not starting from zero, but it is still racing a difficult timetable. The company said on February 27 that it had raised ¥267.6 billion from the government and 32 mainly private-sector companies, including NTT, Canon, Sony Group, SoftBank, NEC, Fujitsu and Honda, to support its push toward 2027 production. (rapidus.inc) That investor list shows how tightly Japan is linking chip manufacturing and artificial intelligence development into one industrial policy. The next test is whether Rapidus can turn subsidies into working 2-nanometer output and whether the new venture can turn Japanese corporate data into a model companies will actually use. (rapidus.inc; japannews.yomiuri.co.jp)
