(Rapidus Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) Founded in 2022, Rapidus was created to significantly advance Japan's semiconductor capability. Backed by the government and major Japanese companies such as SoftBank, Toyota and Sony, Rapidus has teamed up with IBM, TSMC, ASML and IMEC to create state-of-the-art AI chips by 2028. Although headquarters in Tokyo, the Rapidus fab is being built in Hokkaido, one of the four Japanese islands. The company is expected to start out making one wafer at a time. See
IBM,
TSMC,
ASML and
IMEC.
Synthetics Diamonds
Rapidus is part of a U.S.-Japanese project that is working on replacing the silicon base of the chip with synthetic diamonds. The transistor switching part will still use traditional silicon. See
semiconductor companies.