Japan's New Chipmaker Rapidus Joins Hands with IBM

Tokyo, Dec. 13 (Jiji Press)--Japan's new semiconductor maker Rapidus Corp. said Tuesday that it has formed a partnership with U.S. chip giant International Business Machines Corp., or IBM, for mass production of next-generation chips.

From next year, Rapidus, jointly set up by major Japanese companies including Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. <9432> and Toyota Motor Corp. <7203>, will send researchers to a semiconductor research facility in Albany, New York, to work with those from IBM.

Outcomes from the joint research will be brought back to Japan to help build a mass production system.

Last year, IBM developed the world's first technology to manufacture 2-nanometer chips.

"It's of great significance that we have tied up with IBM at a time when uncertainty and vulnerability are growing against the backdrop of geopolitical risks," Rapidus Chairman Tetsuro Higashi told a press conference.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]