The Japanese consortium brings together firms such as Toyota Motor, Sony and Softbank and seeks to research, develop and manufacture semiconductors
The Japan Semiconductor Consortium Rapidus has signed an agreement with the American company IBM for the development and production of next-generation chips, as announced today. IBM thus joins other companies that have recently announced their collaboration with the Japanese conglomerate, which includes companies such as Toyota Motor, Sony and Softbank, with the aim of manufacturing chips with 2-nanometer node technology by 2027. The agreement is part of “of Japan’s project to become a global leader in the research, development and manufacturing of next-generation semiconductors,” Rapidus said in a statement.
IBM, which announced the world’s first system to develop 2-nanometer chips in 2021, is expected to bring “its decades of experience in semiconductor development and design” to a technology that promises 45% and 75% higher performance and efficiency respectively to the current generation of chips, according to the statement.
IBM’s senior vice president and director of research, Dario Gil, said the collaboration represents “an important step to establish a balanced global supply chain” for the sector and to build “a vibrant ecosystem of like-minded companies and countries.” As part of the project, Rapidus personnel will collaborate with the IBM team at IBM’s nanotechnology facilities in Albany, New York, United States, considered among the most advanced in the world in terms of chip development, the statement added.
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The constitution of the Rapidus consortium was announced by the Japanese Executive last month, and in addition to the aforementioned companies, Kioxia, Denso, NEC, NTT and the financial group Mitsubishi UFJ participate. Last week, the Belgian company in the same sector IMEC announced the signing of another memorandum of cooperation with Rapidus, and it is expected that other American and European companies will also join the project soon.
The Japanese Government has contributed an initial investment of 70,000 million yen (about 480 million euros) to the establishment of the consortium, which plans to begin its production operations of next-generation 2-nanometer semiconductors around 2027. In this way, the Executive that leads Fumio Kishida hopes to contribute to improving the supply of chips for the national industry and related countries with a view to reducing dependence on Chinaand after Japan has lost competitiveness in recent years due to the rise of Taiwanese or South Korean firms.