Next-generation semiconductors are a core material for realizing digitalization and decarbonization, and are also indispensable to generative AI and autonomous driving. Securing a supply chain for such chips is a pressing global issue. Against that backdrop, Rapidus Corporation was founded in 2022 to work on a project at the heart of Japan’s semiconductor strategy. Rapidus aims to develop a system for mass producing leading-edge 2-nanometer (nm) chips, which has yet to be realized anywhere. Major Japanese companies—including Toyota Motor Corporation and the Sony Group—have invested a total of 7.3 billion yen in this massive public-private partnership, while the Japanese government has announced support totaling 330 billion yen so far. A large-scale R&D facility and production plant is currently under construction in Chitose City, Hokkaido Prefecture. The company plans to set up a pilot production line in April of 2025, and to begin mass production in 2027.
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