Fujitsu and Rapidus partner to build 1.4nm AI chip entirely in Japan with government backing

Fujitsu plans dedicated 1.4nm AI chip manufactured entirely in Japan by Rapidus -- AI chip to be designed and manufactured domestically

NEDO is expected to fund roughly two-thirds of the ¥58 billion development cost. Fujitsu plans to develop an NPU fabricated on an advanced 1.4nm process by Rapidus, according to a Nikkei Asia report published today. The chip will be designed for AI inference in servers and related systems, with Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) expected to cover approximately two-thirds of the estimated ¥58 billion ($363 million) initial development cost. The project would see the NPU made entirely domestically in terms of both design and manufacturing. NPUs are dedicated AI inference processors distinct from general-purpose GPUs that dominate AI training. While GPUs excel in the parallel processing required to train LLMs, inference tasks perform better on NPUs, which handle calculations more efficiently. You'll typically see NPUs in consumer devices like PCs and smartphones, but Fujitsu intends to deploy them in server systems. Fujitsu plans to integrate the NPUs with its Arm-based Monaka CPUs, which are being developed for uses including Japan's Fugaku NEXT supercomputer, in a single package. The company's current data center CPU, Monaka, is a 144-core Armv9 chip built on TSMC's 2nm process. Fujitsu has applied for an NEDO-operated program to fund the NPU's development. Fujitsu, of course, doesn't produce its own GPUs; it has existing partnerships with Nvidia and plans to connect its CPUs with Nvidia GPUs on the same substrate by 2030. It also has a separate AI chip partnership with AMD. The deal would mark Rapidus's second confirmed order from a Japanese customer after Canon, which committed to ordering image-processing semiconductors for digital cameras. Rapidus CEO Atsuyoshi Koike said in February that the company is in active discussions with more than 60 prospective customers for chips targeting AI, robotics, and edge computing. Rapidus plans to begin construction of its second factory in 2027, targeting 1.4nm production around 2029. The company's first facility in Chitose, Hokkaido, is currently ramping toward 2nm mass production in the second half of fiscal 2027. Fujitsu said it expects domestic chip production to become increasingly important as countries compete to develop sovereign AI capabilities and reduce reliance on foreign technology for processing sensitive data. The company aims to embed encryption technology directly into its chips to protect data during processing. Japan's government has been aggressively funding something of a semiconductor revival, with Rapidus having secured roughly ¥1.7 trillion in combined government and private investment to date, and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry nearly quadrupled its budgeted support for advanced semiconductors and AI development to approximately ¥1.23 trillion for the current fiscal year. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

Japan's Most Ambitious Chip Project Surfaces as Fujitsu Pairs With Rapidus to Build One of the World's First 1.4nm Chips

Japan's semiconductor ambitions have surged in the past few years, and now the leading manufacturer, Fujitsu, intends to partner with Rapidus to build cutting-edge tech. Japan's chip industry, with the backing of its government, has been making significant progress, not just in production but also in building an ecosystem that relies on domestic resources. We have already seen TSMC showing intentions to expand into Japan, which is a direct indication that the administration is eager to invest in this sector. In addition, a report by Nikkei Asia has disclosed that Japan's Fujitsu is reportedly planning to develop resources to tape out one of the world's first 1.4nm chips, and, interestingly, the fab operations would be handled directly by Rapidus. This means that Japan's 1.4nm product would be built entirely on in-house resources. Manufacturing will be commissioned to Rapidus, a Japanese semiconductor company seeking to mass-produce cutting-edge chips. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is expected to cover part of the development cost. The effort will be a first step in responding to global moves to build AI capabilities amid economic security concerns. - Nikkei Asia The report states that Fujitsu will develop an NPU chip based on the 1.4nm process, a dedicated AI engine. We already know that the firm plans to pair these NPUs with its Fujitsu-Monaka-X processor, which will then be deployed in the native Fugaku NEXT supercomputer. The Monaka platform is known as a cutting-edge offering from the Japanese giant, featuring up to 144 cores per socket in a 3D chiplet layout and supporting PCIe 6.0 and CXL 3.0. Paired with the intended 1.4nm NPU, Fujitsu is expected to deliver significant compute power from its Monaka platform, which is why this project sounds a lot more compelling. Regarding the 1.4nm process from Rapidus, it is claimed that the Japanese chip giant could begin trial production as soon as 2029. Details around the node are still confined for now, aside from the fact that Rapidus has partnered with supply chain players like IBM, Canon, and other Japanese equipment suppliers, with the primary focus of beating TSMC in the race for the cutting-edge node. Rapidus' 2nm process is expected to enter full-scale production by 2028, indicating that node development has been consistent enough. Yield rates and production ramp-up will be answered once the fabs are live. Given how critical it has become for the world to diversify chip production, Japan has taken center stage alongside the US in developing an in-house semiconductor ecosystem, backed by government incentives. It would be interesting to see how these investments turn out in the long term, given that Japanese chip players have been building their supply chains from 'ground zero' for several years now, yet the spotlight is on others.