Rapidus Prepares Advanced Fabrication Line for AI Chips Gambit

Japan’s state-backed venture Rapidus Corp. began adjusting chipmaking equipment Tuesday on the way to begin test production of advanced semiconductors by the end of the month, a key step in its efforts to make AI components.

The two-year-old company is gearing up to mass produce semiconductors using 2-nanometer processes in 2027, which on paper would match Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in terms of chipmaking prowess. Japan has to date earmarked ¥1.72 trillion ($11.5 billion) to support the startup, part of a yearslong push to regain some of the tech leadership it’s ceded to the US, Taiwan and South Korea.