Japan Boosts Investment in Rapidus for Chip Mass Production

(CNA Tokyo Combined Report) Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced on Thursday that it has made an additional investment of 150 billion yen in Rapidus, which is striving to mass-produce the most advanced semiconductors. The Japanese government has so far provided a total of 2.6 trillion yen to Rapidus, and whether it can produce results will be a key focus.

According to NHK, METI announced the additional 150 billion yen investment through the Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA). This funding will be used for equipment investment necessary for producing 2-nanometer process chips and for research and development costs for 1.4-nanometer process products. IPA is under the jurisdiction of METI.

The Japanese government made its first investment in Rapidus in February of this year, amounting to 100 billion yen. This latest investment brings the total from the two rounds to 250 billion yen.

Although the Japanese government is already the largest shareholder in Rapidus, the shares acquired in this latest investment do not carry voting rights. The plan is to keep the government's voting rights ratio at 11.5% to allow the company to make swift management decisions.

However, if Rapidus's business conditions deteriorate, the government can convert these shares into voting shares, raising its voting rights ratio to around 60%.

Including this latest funding, the total subsidies provided by the Japanese government to Rapidus amount to 2.604 trillion yen. It also plans to contribute approximately 300 billion yen in fiscal 2027 under the name of consignment fees.

The report notes that whether Rapidus can deliver corresponding results has become a focal point of external attention.

Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ryosei Akazawa, stated at a press conference after a cabinet meeting on Thursday, "This is a core project of the growth investments promoted by the government. For the national interest, we must ensure its success. We will push forward with this plan with all our might."

According to the Nikkei, the portion of investment from 32 companies, mainly private firms, totaling 167.6 billion yen in Rapidus has already concluded.

For its part, the Japanese government has already injected 250 billion yen into Rapidus this year and plans to invest a total of approximately 2.9 trillion yen by fiscal 2027.