TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Japanese government is looking to provide Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) with 770 billion yen (NT$15 billion) in aid for a second chip fab in Kumamoto prefecture, according to Nikkei Asia.
TSMC is building its first Japanese fab in Kumamoto, which is expected to be ready for commercial production in December 2024. The project is expected to cost around US$8.6 billion (NT$278 billion), of which Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is providing around US$3.5 billion in subsidies to TSMC.
In total, the Japanese government is looking for 2 trillion yen in budget financing to help semiconductor production and development in generative AI technology, Nikkei said. METI said it wants 650 billion yen for Japanese chipmaker Rapidus and an Intel research center, in addition to support for advanced chip designs.
Meanwhile, about 460 billion yen is being proposed for a new facility by Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (PSMC) in the Miyagi prefecture. The remaining 190 billion yen will go toward the development of supercomputers to process data for AI learning models, per Nikkei.
Japanese reports in July said that TMSC was planning to construct a second fab in Kumamoto, with construction set to begin in April 2024. This second fab would begin commercial production of 12nm chips in 2026.
