Japan Chipmaker Rapidus Teams Up with Domestic Partners

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)--Japanese chipmaker Rapidus Corp. said Wednesday it will collaborate with an artificial intelligence developer and a cloud service provider to make high-performance semiconductors with low power consumption for data centers.

The collaboration with the two Japanese companies is also expected to support Rapidus’ efforts to expand its customer base, which is considered weak.

On Wednesday, Rapidus concluded a basic agreement with AI business Preferred Networks Inc. and Sakura Internet Inc. to cooperate in developing, making and putting into practical use advanced chips at a time when power consumption is expected to soar due to the popularity of generative AI tools.

Specifically, Rapidus will manufacture chips designed by Preferred Networks for use at Sakura Internet’s data centers.

Rapidus is building a plant in Chitose, Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, where the operation of a prototype line is set to start in April.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]