The developer of Japanese chips Rapidus plans to manufacture chips even on the Moon

Rapidus is a company that aims to bring 2‑nm chips to market in 2024

* Who and why?

A consortium of Japanese investors founded Rapidus in 2022. Next year it plans to start mass production of advanced 2‑nm microchips at a new plant in Hokkaido. Customers have already placed orders, and the company is ready to meet their demand.

* Who is leading the project?

The head of Rapidus is Atsuyoshi Koike. According to him he is “young by industry standards,” but his ambitions are equally grand. He even dreams of producing chips on the Moon and considers it entirely realistic.

* How did the journey to 2‑nm unfold?

In July this year Rapidus released its first prototype built with 2‑nm technology. To master the complex lithographic processes the company turned to IBM in the United States – they became the technical donor. Koike notes that Japan’s semiconductor industry was once too isolated, and that was a mistake. To catch up quickly, Rapidus sent engineers on internships to New York.

* What makes Rapidus unique?

The main competitive advantage is the speed of moving from project to serial production. Normally this process takes up to 50 days; Rapidus intends to cut it down to 15. Clients are willing to pay more for acceleration, and the company compares it to the pricing policy of Japanese high‑speed trains.

Additionally, Rapidus will be able to handle ultra‑small batches of chips – literally from a single silicon wafer.

* Future plans

Once orders start generating steady revenue, the company plans to build new plants where robots will work in parallel with humans. According to Koike, by the forties of this century Rapidus will already be producing chips on the Moon. Lower gravity and the presence of vacuum, he believes, will make the manufacturing process more efficient.

In short: Rapidus seeks to quickly bring 2‑nm microchips into production, leveraging IBM’s technological support and a focus on speeding up processes. In the long term the company even plans to tap into the lunar semiconductor industry.