Japan Earmarks Extra $9.9 Billion for Chips and AI This Year

Ishiba promised more than ¥10 trillion in outlays on chips, AI
Some of the funds are seen going to foundry startup Rapidus

Visitors at AI Expo Tokyo. — Visitors at AI Expo Tokyo.
Photographer: Kosuke Okahara/Bloomberg

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By Yuki Hagiwara and Yuki Furukawa

November 29, 2024 at 3:03 AM EST

Japan is allocating another ¥1.5 trillion ($9.9 billion) to boost its chip and artificial intelligence endeavors including moonshot foundry project Rapidus Corp.

The government’s extra budget for the fiscal year to March sets aside ¥1.05 trillion to develop and research fields related to next-generation chips and quantum computers and another ¥471.4 billion to support domestic advanced chip production. No decision has been made on how much of that will go to Rapidus, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.