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Fujitsu plans 1.4nm AI chip Japan-based production with Rapidus & Japan targets fivefold rise in domestically made chip sales by 2040

user nl

Well-known member
Fujitsu plans to develop a 1.4nm artificial intelligence (AI) chip and outsource its production to Rapidus in Japan, according to Nikkei. The chip is designed for use in servers and related systems, with a focus on low power consumption and domestic manufacturing.
The semiconductor will be a neural processing unit (NPU) optimized for AI inference and will be integrated in a single package with a central processing unit (CPU) also under development, for systems including Japan's next-generation supercomputer, Fugaku NEXT.
Fujitsu has applied for a program under Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), with initial development costs estimated at JPY58 billion. If approved, NEDO is expected to cover about two-thirds of the cost.

.........................................

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/japan-targets-fivefold-rise-domestically-093357229.html

TOKYO, March 10 (Reuters) - Japan on Tuesday set a new target to ‌boost sales of domestically produced semiconductors fivefold ‌by 2040 under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's growth investment strategy as it seeks to catch up with global rivals and tap the AI boom.

The government set the 2040 goal at 40 trillion yen ($253.6 billion) in ‌annual sales of ⁠Japan-made chips, up from roughly 8 trillion yen now, extending an existing target ⁠of 15 trillion yen for 2030.


Chips are among dozens of products the government has designated as strategically important for economic security, and will be the focus ‌of expanded public investment to spur growth. Detailed roadmaps will be finalised in the coming months and incorporated into next year's budget planning.

Japan controlled half of the global chip market in the ‌1980s before collapsing in the following decade due to U.S.–Japan trade tensions and the contraction of its domestic electronics ‌sector. The country currently has less than 10% market share.

With AI now driving rapid growth in the design and manufacturing of advanced chips, Japan must ‌position itself to capture that expansion, the government said.
 
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Japan will use Rapidus if at all possible. Remember who the investors are according to AI:

Rapidus is backed by a consortium of major Japanese corporations plus strong government funding. Here’s a clear breakdown of the investors and supporters.

Founding corporate investors
Rapidus was originally funded in 2022 by eight major Japanese companies:
  • Toyota Motor Corporation
  • Sony Group
  • NTT
  • NEC
  • SoftBank Group
  • Denso
  • Kioxia
  • Mitsubishi UFJ Bank
These companies jointly provided the initial capital when Rapidus was founded.

Government funding (major backer)

The Government of Japan (through METI/IPA programs) is also a major investor:

Government funding of ~100 billion yen

Total public + private funding ~267.6 billion yen
  • Government stake can reach around 40% including non-voting shares
This makes Rapidus effectively a state-backed national semiconductor project.

Additional / newer investors (expanding consortium)
More companies have joined or are considering investment, including:
  • Canon
  • Fujitsu
  • Honda Motor
  • Kyocera
  • Fujifilm
  • Development Bank of Japan
By 2026, 32 private-sector firms had contributed funding.

Banks and financial support
Large Japanese banks are also involved through loans and financing:
  • Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
  • Mizuho Financial Group
  • Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
They have discussed multi-billion-dollar lending packages to support fab construction.

Strategic technology partner (not equity investor)
  • IBM
    • Provides 2nm process technology collaboration
    • Acts as a technical partner rather than a core investor.Summary
Rapidus is funded by:
  • Japanese government (major stakeholder)
  • Consortium of 8 founding corporates
  • Additional Japanese industrial companies
  • Large Japanese banks (loans)
  • Technology partners (e.g., IBM)
This makes Rapidus a national strategic semiconductor effort backed by both industry and government.
 
Rapidus secures $1.7 billion from Japan’s government and private investors for 2nm chip production — company says it is in active discussions with more than 60 potential customers... :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

60 deals for 400 wafers per month? I sure hope yield is 99.99%.

@Dan, please as host perhaps a bit more neutral 😇 ?

Japan plays a delicate act with tax-payers money, getting TSMC to invest in two FABS, with one of them 3 nm, and trying to get homegrown Rapidus also off the ground in more advanced 2 and 1.4 nm.

Japan is also important for the global supply chain of FABS, also for TSMC is my impression.

The world is big enough and it will be perhaps not in our lifetime that TSMC will loose the top spot in Global Foundry 2.0, future will tell..

But isn't it good that (your and Paul's book on) foundry model is now also sprouting in Japan for leading edge EUV-nodes?

https://semiwiki.com/books/Fabless 2019 Version PDF.pdf
 
I’m not looking for Dan to be neutral. I want to know what he really thinks. The same for other expert posters here.

OK, neutral is not the best word, sorry, English is not my native language. And to be honest Dutch can be very direct (obnoxious and rude) in their comments/remarks/discussions.

As an expert nothing wrong with being strong and kind; remember there are some 300K members on Dan's site from all over the world:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/laur...p&rcm=ACoAABgaN-4BTbOnMpW-b02JuSpbUWzScyA2IYY
 
Re: 60 customers; a few thoughts:

- The Japanese automakers may each be looking at next gen infotainment and self-driving capabilities, so rather than buying sub-7nm nodes (vs legacy nodes today) from TSMC they'll be using Rapidus. Perhaps a supplier or two as well.

- There's probably at least 10 other industrial / technical giants in Japan that could benefit directly from 2nm nodes today; Canon, Fujifilm, Sony, SoftBank (ARM, others), Hitachi, Fujitsu, Panasonic, etc.

- IBM is probably looking at using this for future POWER processors

- Rapidus is probably being explored lightly by companies that are highly unlikely to move away from TSMC, i.e. AMD, Apple, etc. At the very least, Rapidus should be considered (like Intel 18A and Samsung 2nm) for Business Continuity Planning by major fabless firms.

That's a decent amount of possible business, but "feels" like it would all still be 4-5 years away at best, and certainly a high % of these 60 potential customers won't sign on..

(I'm not an expert of course, just my guess.)
 
OK, neutral is not the best word, sorry, English is not my native language. And to be honest Dutch can be very direct (obnoxious and rude) in their comments/remarks/discussions.

As an expert nothing wrong with being strong and kind; remember there are some 300K members on Dan's site from all over the world:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/laur...p&rcm=ACoAABgaN-4BTbOnMpW-b02JuSpbUWzScyA2IYY
You do pretty well in English. I envy those who are multi-lingual. It sounds like I'd fit right in in the Netherlands, if I spoke Dutch. ;)
 
IBM is probably looking at using this for future POWER processors
I think IBM still lives in their technology leadership legacy in their culture and their heads. Power CPUs are very low volume, in a chip industry context, so I agree that Power is a likely Rapidus candidate.

(I used to be an IBM Microelectronics customer, ages ago. They were a very good fab.)
 
OK, neutral is not the best word, sorry, English is not my native language. And to be honest Dutch can be very direct (obnoxious and rude) in their comments/remarks/discussions.

As an expert nothing wrong with being strong and kind; remember there are some 300K members on Dan's site from all over the world:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/laur...p&rcm=ACoAABgaN-4BTbOnMpW-b02JuSpbUWzScyA2IYY

Actually we have 360,976 registered members and more than 2M active readers.

Officially I am a blogger and offer my experience, observations, and opinions. There is nothing neutral about me. Journalists are supposed to report the news in a neutral manner but most journalists now adays have an agenda and that is getting clicks. At least with me you get the truth based on 40+ years experience in the semiconductor industry. And if I get it wrong please do call me out. It does happen on occasion, according to my wife anyway.

You will not find another person with more "touches" and experience inside the semiconductor ecosystem, especially with my type of sarcastic wit. If that is a problem I understand and respect your decision to leave SemiWiki. Then we will have 360,975 registered members. (sarcastic wit)

1775054726011.png
 
Actually we have 360,976 registered members and more than 2M active readers.

Officially I am a blogger and offer my experience, observations, and opinions. There is nothing neutral about me. Journalists are supposed to report the news in a neutral manner but most journalists now adays have an agenda and that is getting clicks. At least with me you get the truth based on 40+ years experience in the semiconductor industry. And if I get it wrong please do call me out. It does happen on occasion, according to my wife anyway.

You will not find another person with more "touches" and experience inside the semiconductor ecosystem, especially with my type of sarcastic wit. If that is a problem I understand and respect your decision to leave SemiWiki. Then we will have 360,975 registered members. (sarcastic wit)

View attachment 4391

For your wife: 🌷🌷🌷 and perhaps invite her sometimes here, the season is starting:

 
I’m not looking for Dan to be neutral. I want to know what he really thinks. The same for other expert posters here.
for me they should focus on Rapidus 2nm instead of doing 1.4nm and so on they should get quality 2nm in HVM. I think that should be good for a decent amount of time for Japan
 
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