Japan is preparing as much as ¥802.5 billion ($5.4 billion) in additional aid for chip startup Rapidus, a move that reflects Tokyo’s growing resolve to secure semiconductor supplies during a time of heightened U.S.-China tensions.
The economy ministry said Monday it approved as much as ¥675.5 billion of additional support for front-end processing and another ¥127 billion for back-end processing, which includes chip packaging and testing, to help Rapidus mass produce advanced semiconductors from scratch.
That would bring the total amount of taxpayer money the country’s so far earmarked for the fledgling contract chipmaker to as much as ¥1.72 trillion.
Rapidus is on track to get a pilot line online in April, executives said last week. The startup, backed by Toyota Motor, Sony Group and SoftBank aims to begin mass production of next-generation chips in 2027 — a highly ambitious target — to try to catch up to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. from scratch.
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