Japan approves additional $4Bfor chipmaker Rapidus

[Daniel Nenni]

TOKYO, April 11 (Reuters) - Japan's industry ministry said on Saturday it has approved an additional 631.5 billion yen ($3.96 billion) ‌to accelerate research and development at chipmaker Rapidus.

The support is part of the government's efforts to boost domestic production of advanced semiconductors and strengthen ⁠chip supply chains. With the latest funding, Rapidus' total research and development assistance amounts to 2.354 trillion yen.

The ministry also said that NEDO, its subordinate organisation, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, has decided to support semiconductor ‌design-related ⁠projects by Fujitsu (6702.T), opens new tab and IBM Japan.

Rapidus is working on the development of next-generation logic semiconductors at the 2-nanometre scale and plans ⁠to start mass production in the fiscal year 2027.
In February, the company secured a ⁠combined investment of about 160 billion yen from private companies, with a ⁠planned 250 billion yen from the government.

Reporting by Miho Uranaka, writing by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Sam Holmes

Japan approves additional $4 bln for chipmaker Rapidus

Japan's industry ministry said on Saturday it has approved an additional 631.5 billion yen ($3.96 billion) ‌to accelerate research and development at chipmaker Rapidus.

www.reuters.com

 

[Daniel Nenni]

Rapidus is working the IP ecosystem pretty hard, writing some very big checks. No word on big customers though. This really has the feeling of GlobalFoundries when they first got started. The NOT TSMC market is much more visible this time around so they definitely have a chance. GF was also dependent on IBM technology and that did not work out. This will be an interesting case study and an all or nothing situation for IBM?

 

[Artificer60]

Rapidus is working on the development of next-generation logic semiconductors at the 2-nanometre scale and plans ⁠to start mass production in the fiscal year 2027.

Has anyone seen a 1.0 PDK or even 0.5? Have they even produced a test chip? 20 months isn't very long for process development if they haven't hit the required milestones.

 

[Xebec]

GF was also dependent on IBM technology and that did not work out. This will be an interesting case study and an all or nothing situation for IBM?

I'd like to know a little more about what happened here, if anyone could answer.

I know IBM was slow in developing a timely solution for GF, so they went with Samsung licensing or something similar.

Was the IBM technology for the 7nm node fully unworkable, or just it needed more time to bake? How far off the mark was IBM with "helping" Glofo and 7nm? (will help me understand the risk profile for Rapdius a little better).

 

[MKWVentures]

I'd like to know a little more about what happened here, if anyone could answer.

I know IBM was slow in developing a timely solution for GF, so they went with Samsung licensing or something similar.

Was the IBM technology for the 7nm node fully unworkable, or just it needed more time to bake? How far off the mark was IBM with "helping" Glofo and 7nm? (will help me understand the risk profile for Rapdius a little better).

IBM has a reputation for Process technologies. Very expensive and not very manufacturable. This is what GF saw. GF could not afford to take IBM technologies anymore.
Another "I" company has that same reputation today.

 

[hist78]

Very expensive and not very manufacturable.

UMC probably feels the same way.

 

[Sølve Folkestad Dahl]

A rapidus way of putting money on fire.

 

[Daniel Nenni]

Has anyone seen a 1.0 PDK or even 0.5? Have they even produced a test chip? 20 months isn't very long for process development if they haven't hit the required milestones.

Yes, IP companies have PDK .5 and above. It came with a big check for porting services. Select TSMC N2 IP is being moved over. No problems have been reported but we will know more after the TSMC conference next week. I would guess PDK 1.0 will be released by the end of the year if no problems are encountered. I really am rooting for Rapidus but I can't imagine they will disrupt the foundry business due to limited capacity. I am guessing that the investors have first call on wafers and that could leave very little for the North America Titans. It will definitely be good for the NOT TSMC market on paper but actual revenue will be a nothing burger for TSMC.

 

[MKWVentures]

Yes, IP companies have PDK .5 and above. It came with a big check for porting services. Select TSMC N2 IP is being moved over. No problems have been reported but we will know more after the TSMC conference next week. I would guess PDK 1.0 will be released by the end of the year if no problems are encountered. I really am rooting for Rapidus but I can't imagine they will disrupt the foundry business due to limited capacity. I am guessing that the investors have first call on wafers and that could leave very little for the North America Titans. It will definitely be good for the NOT TSMC market on paper but actual revenue will be a nothing burger for TSMC.

I have heard anything on test wafers or process technology reports. have customers gotten silicon or seen any cross sections?

 

[NY_Sam2]

Rapidus CEO at a semiconductor-display forum in Korea, 2026-Apr-10
. link = https://www.sisajournal-e.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=420424
. Chairman Higashi emphasized, “We are pursuing this because we truly believe that 2nm is possible, and the government is also investing heavily,” adding, “I believe the opposite of success is not failure but doing nothing. If we fail, we can simply build upon it to the next success; that is how the history of semiconductors has been, and that is how we have grown.”

 

[hist78]

Rapidus CEO at a semiconductor-display forum in Korea, 2026-Apr-10
. link = https://www.sisajournal-e.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=420424
. Chairman Higashi emphasized, “We are pursuing this because we truly believe that 2nm is possible, and the government is also investing heavily,” adding, “I believe the opposite of success is not failure but doing nothing. If we fail, we can simply build upon it to the next success; that is how the history of semiconductors has been, and that is how we have grown.”

View attachment 4440

Rapidus’ chances of existing long term and continuing R&D have improved a lot. In my view, many countries around the world, including US allies like Japan, are not comfortable with the United States’ increasingly hostile policy. They worry that their semiconductor supply from outside could be suddenly interrupted by a social media post from a US president.

For Japan, Rapidus functions as an insurance policy. It serves as a Plan B for maintaining the stability of the Japanese economy.

 

[maoya]

Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi recently shared technical updates on the Rapidus partnership in an interview from April 14, 2026.
He described the project as a gift for the company.
The PDK has already evolved from version 0.1 toward 0.5 and 0.7 after initial engagement at the TCAD level.
To mitigate the lack of cumulative node-to-node experience, Synopsys is providing its full IP library and EDA tools while leveraging IBM’s foundational process learning.
Ghazi noted that Synopsys is committing a higher level of investment here compared to established foundries to ensure design enablement for their global foundry ambitions.
The relevant section starts at 12:14.

 

[Barnsley]

Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi recently shared technical updates on the Rapidus partnership in an interview from April 14, 2026.
He described the project as a gift for the company.
The PDK has already evolved from version 0.1 toward 0.5 and 0.7 after initial engagement at the TCAD level.
To mitigate the lack of cumulative node-to-node experience, Synopsys is providing its full IP library and EDA tools while leveraging IBM’s foundational process learning.
Ghazi noted that Synopsys is committing a higher level of investment here compared to established foundries to ensure design enablement for their global foundry ambitions.
The relevant section starts at 12:14.

Wait til they bring the squeeze once within their eco-system