Japan's state-backed chipmaker Rapidus could list in the United States, or even build chips there, once its 2nm production succeeds, a senior ruling-party lawmaker told Reuters. The idea would take Rapidus onto the same soil where TSMC is committing $265 billion.
Daishiro Yamagiwa, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's parliamentary league promoting semiconductor strategy, said in the interview with Reuters, published on September 25, that Rapidus is advancing "miraculously" on schedule. If volume production succeeds, he said, customers, financing and an eventual stock market listing should follow smoothly, and a future U.S. listing or U.S. production are both possibilities.
Rapidus was founded on August 10, 2022, by eight Japanese companies: Denso, Kioxia, MUFG Bank, NEC, NTT, SoftBank, Sony, and Toyota. Its IIM-1 fab in Chitose, Hokkaido, began pilot line testing on April 1, 2025, and the company showed its first 2nm prototypes on July 18, 2025. It aims to start volume production in the second half of fiscal 2027, which runs from October 2027 to March 2028 because Japan's fiscal year starts in April.
TSMC's $265 Billion Arizona Bet Sets The Bar
The United States is where TSMC has concentrated its expansion. On July 16, the Taiwanese chipmaker pledged another $100 billion to Arizona for at least four more fabs using 2nm and more advanced processes. The move lifted its total commitment there to $265 billion, up from the $12 billion it first announced for the state in May 2020.
TSMC's first Arizona fab has been in high-volume production on its 4nm process since the fourth quarter of 2024, and the site keeps growing. Rapidus, by contrast, has yet to start volume production, so any U.S. move remains a possibility that depends on that success. If it did follow TSMC, the world's most advanced chip capacity would tilt further toward the United States.
Rapidus Trails TSMC By Roughly Two Years
TSMC's 2nm N2 process entered volume production in the fourth quarter of 2025 and contributed 3% of its wafer revenue in the second quarter of 2026. Its enhanced N2P version is slated to follow in the second half of this year. Measured by production start, Rapidus is about two years behind.
The test facing Rapidus has therefore changed. The question is no longer whether it can make working 2nm chips, but whether it can make them reliably, in large numbers, and at low cost. Rapidus has said it will begin releasing a suite of AI-driven design tools in 2026, delivered to customers together with a process design kit, or PDK, the set of manufacturing rules and data they need to design chips for its process.
Tokyo Has Committed Over 2 Trillion Yen To Rapidus
Reuters reported that Rapidus has received about 2.4 trillion yen in government research commissioning fees so far. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry put the cumulative figure at 2.354 trillion yen when it added 631.5 billion yen for fiscal 2026 in April.
The state has also become a shareholder. It invested 100 billion yen in Rapidus through the Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA) on February 27 and a further 150 billion yen on June 5, for a total of 250 billion yen. The February round, which raised 267.6 billion yen in all, also drew 167.6 billion yen from 32 private companies.
Yamagiwa Sets A One Year Test For Rapidus
Japan held roughly half of the global chip market in the 1980s and controlled most of the world's DRAM memory business. The 1986 U.S.-Japan Semiconductor Agreement then blunted its competitive edge, forcing Japanese chipmakers to keep to minimum prices and open more of their home market to imports.
Yamagiwa said this attempt differs from that failed 1980s strategy because Rapidus partnered with American companies from the start and because the government's commitment has been consistent. Rapidus and IBM announced on December 13, 2022, that they would jointly develop IBM's 2nm node technology for production in Japan.
He also set a clear test. By this time next year, Yamagiwa said, Rapidus needs to have a volume production system in place and show society chips that are actually being mass-produced.
Original Article In Chinese （Related： TSMC Shatters Records as AI Demand Kicks Off the 2nm Era ｜ Latest ）
