Japan allocates 45 billion yen to fire up domestic chip research

JAPAN will spend as much as 45 billion yen (S$406.5 million) to back a research group developing advanced chip technology, part of a national push to catch up in semiconductor manufacturing.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said it approved outsourcing research on cutting-edge fabrication tech to Leading-edge Semiconductor Technology Center (LSTC). The year-old organisation was set up to assemble Japan’s researchers in areas such as nanotechnology, materials and artificial intelligence and support chip manufacturing at state-backed Rapidus Corp. 

“We outsource research and development that the government deems is necessary but is too risky for the private sector to carry out,” Hidemichi Shimizu, director of METI’s strategy office for the software and information services industry, said at a news briefing on Friday (Feb 9). The contract is for up to five years and would span chip technology for 2 nanometers (nm) and beyond, as well as AI-enabling chip design, he said.

Rapidus is spending billions of dollars in subsidies on a bid to produce advanced 2nm chips in Chitose in Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido and compete with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Samsung Electronics.

Tokyo-based LSTC, headed by Rapidus chairman Tetsuro Higashi, the former chairman of chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron, is working on designs that will enable AI applications on gadgets such as smartphones as well as connected electric vehicles. The centre comprises researchers at the University of Tokyo, Tohoku University and others, according to its website.

LSTC will also serve as the centre of joint development with overseas partners on next-generation semiconductor technology and will help generate demand for Rapidus while bolstering Japan’s sustainable competitiveness, Economy Minister Ken Saito said. BLOOMBERG