Rapidus Corporation, a Japanese company dedicated to the research, development, design, manufacture and sales of advanced logic semiconductors, today announced it has formed a U.S. subsidiary, Rapidus Design Solutions (RDS).The new division will be located in Santa Clara, California, and will be headed by President and General Manager Henri Richard. His CV includes senior positions at Advanced Micro Devices and IBM.

Rapidus was formed in 2022 with investment by the Japanese government as well as prominent Japanese firms including, Sony and Toyota, and is aligned in a strategic partnership with IBM for joint development of 2nm node technology. Its manufacturing facility, called the Innovative Integration for Manufacturing (IIM), is currently under construction in Hokkaido, Japan, with production expected to begin in the coming years.

Albany NanoTech Complex

The Santa Clara office is an extension of Rapidus’ existing presence in the U.S. More than 100 Rapidus scientists and engineers are currently working alongside IBM researchers at the Albany NanoTech Complex owned and operated by NY CREATES in Albany, New York – one of the world’s most advanced semiconductor research facilities.   Together, the organizations are developing processes to speed up the research, development, design and manufacture of semiconductors for next-generation industries such as AI, 5G communications, quantum computing, self-driving vehicles and smart cities, among others.

Rapidus also has a lot of government support. Earlier this month, Japan's industry ministry approved subsidies worth up to 590 billion yen (USD 3.9 billion) in support for the fab.

With the launch of this new US subsidiary, Rapidus is clearly positioning itself to serve US tech companies looking for an alternative to the incumbent chip foundries.

“We’re at an important inflection point for semiconductor manufacturing as there must be collaboration among multiple countries, governments and foundries,” said Dr. Atsuyoshi Koike, president and CEO, Rapidus Corporation. “With the opening of our office in the Silicon Valley, combined with Henri’s extensive and impressive semiconductor experience, we’re ensuring that our customers have the best support –from Japan and the U.S. – to address their design and manufacturing needs.”

“I am proud to see what the collaboration between IBM and Rapidus has accomplished since our relationship began in 2022,” said Dr. Mukesh Khare, general manager, IBM Semiconductors and vice president, Hybrid Cloud Research, IBM. “Working together with Rapidus engineers at the Albany NanoTech Complex, we are making tremendous strides for our 2nm joint development project.”

Editor：Lulu

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