Japan's Rapidus to cooperate with British, Italian institutions

The signing will coincide with Takaichi's trip to Europe starting Saturday.

Briefing Takaichi at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Rapidus President Atsuyoshi Koike said that the company, which aims to mass-produce state-of-the-art semiconductors, will "work hand-in-hand with Europe to make the first step toward the discovery of a new world and new technologies that have never been seen before."

Rapidus will exchange memorandums of understanding on the cooperation with UK Semiconductor Center, which supports the British chip industry through funding by the British government, and Fondazione Chips-IT, an Italian government research institute.

The MoUs are expected to cover collaborations over technologies and research for manufacturing cutting-edge semiconductors.

The Japanese government will back Rapidus' efforts, with an eye toward developing sales channels in the two European countries.

At Thursday's meeting, Takaichi said, "I hope to promote (related efforts), mainly among like-minded nations."

The Japanese government has already decided to provide a total of around 2.4 trillion yen in aid to Rapidus.

The company aims to start mass-producing two-nanometer chips in fiscal 2027.

Currently, it is holding talks with over 60 firms, mainly those in the United States, to secure clients.