Japan earmarks extra ¥1.5 trillion for chips and AI this year

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

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.

Japan, home to some of the world’s biggest semiconductor materials and equipment makers, is fighting to keep up in a global spending spree on cutting-edge tech led by China and the U.S. Policymakers believe chips in particular hold the key to developing superior artificial intelligence and boosting national security.