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 a highly ambitious target ¡ª to try to catch up to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. from scratch.
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