The Japanese government is considering acquiring a stake in domestic chip venture Rapidus Corp, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday, as it seeks to spearhead efforts to increase financial support for it from the private sector.
A plan is under consideration to exchange part of the company's government-owned factory for shares in it. The timing and size of the transaction is to be decided later, the sources said.
The plan comes as the government has designated semiconductors as strategically important goods in terms of both economic growth and security. It has already decided to offer a 920 billion yen subsidy to the venture aiming to produce state-of-the-art 2-nanometer chips.
However, the chipmaker has so far received investments totaling only 7.3 billion yen from eight major Japanese companies, including Toyota Motor Corp, SoftBank Corp and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.
Rapidus, set up in 2022, estimates it needs around 5 trillion yen to complete a plant currently being built in Hokkaido and begin mass-producing the next-generation chips with the technical backing of U.S. tech giant IBM Corp in 2027.
Government investment in venture firms like Rapidus with no track record in production is extremely rare, and such an investment is likely to be scrutinized since taxpayers could bear the burden if the project fails.
The construction cost of Rapidus's factory in Hokkaido is covered by government funds, meaning it a national asset that the venture firm will eventually need to buy from the government.
Compared with just offering subsidies, acquiring shares will enable the government to become more involved in the venture's management.
The government will consider additional support in the areas of mass production and research while examining the venture's business performance, the sources said.
© KYODO
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