Japan approves ¥631.5B Rapidus AI subsidies
Japan approved ¥631.5 billion (about $4 billion) in subsidies to bolster Rapidus’ AI chipmaking push, directing significant public capital to domestic semiconductor development. The funding is presented as part of a national effort to support local AI hardware capacity. (x.com)
Japan’s industry ministry approved ¥631.5 billion in new subsidies for Rapidus on April 11, 2026, to speed the company’s push into AI chip production. (bloomberg.com) The package assigns ¥514.1 billion to front-end wafer processes and ¥117.4 billion to back-end assembly and packaging, the Jiji Press reported. (nippon.com) Officials said the approval followed an external committee inspection of Rapidus’s foundry at its Chitose, Hokkaido site. (bloomberg.com) Rapidus is targeting mass production of two-nanometer logic semiconductors in fiscal 2027, and the ministry said the new money will be used mainly for prototype refinement. (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp) Tokyo’s latest disbursement raises the government’s stated support to roughly the low trillions of yen: METI and Bloomberg put total public injections at about ¥2.6 trillion through March 2027, while other reports list cumulative state support figures around ¥2.354 trillion and ¥2.454 trillion. (bloomberg.com) Rapidus was formed in August 2022 with backing from eight Japanese firms, including Toyota, Sony, SoftBank and NTT, and the company announced a ¥267.6 billion funding round from government and private investors in February 2026. (rapidus.inc) Bloomberg and other outlets say Fujitsu is an early commercial partner and that Rapidus has discussed private financing targets and an initial public offering around fiscal 2031 as part of its business plan. (bloomberg.com) The ministry framed the ¥631.5 billion as part of a broader push to shore up Japan’s domestic chip supply chains ahead of the fiscal 2027 production target. (nippon.com)
