Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, plans to sign a memorandum for comprehensive collaboration with Japan’s Kyushu University covering training and joint research on semiconductors, the **Yomiuri Shimbun** reported yesterday.
TSMC is expected to hold seminars at the university and the two plan to conduct joint studies and write papers together, the newspaper cited sources close to the university as saying.
They are also considering an internship program, under which Kyushu University students would be dispatched to TSMC operations in Taiwan, it said.
Photo: Mike Kai Chen, Bloomberg
The agreement would be TSMC’s first of its kind with a Japanese university after the chipmaker launched its first semiconductor manufacturing fab in Kumamoto Prefecture in late February as it aims to improve chip supply resilience and help revive Japan’s semiconductor industry.
The Kumamoto fab is slated to start mass production in the fourth quarter of this year, and TSMC plans to build a second fab in the prefecture — with partners Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp, Denso Corp and Toyota Motor Corp — which is scheduled to start operations by the end of 2027.
With TSMC’s arrival, Kyushu, where Kumamoto Prefecture is situated, is expected to see a shortfall of 1,000 technical experts in the semiconductor industry per year over the next decade, the **Yomiuri Shimbun** said.
To ensure sufficient talent for its operations, TSMC believes it is necessary to work with Kyushu University, it said.
Separately, Japan and the US are to announce closer cooperation in high-tech areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) in a joint statement when Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with US President Joe Biden this month, the **Asahi Shimbun** reported on Saturday.
Biden is set to host Kishida for an official visit to the US on Wednesday next week.
Calling ties between the allies a "global partnership," the joint statement is to advocate stronger cooperation in AI and semiconductors, **Asahi** said without citing its sources.
As part of the agreement, Japan and the US would likely set up a framework for AI research and development, working with Nvidia Corp, Arm Holdings PLC and Amazon.com Inc, among others, the newspaper said.
The US has moved aggressively in the past few months to halt shipments of advanced AI chips to China, in its efforts to stop Beijing from getting cutting-edge US technology that could strengthen its military.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
‘FAILED EXPORT CONTROLS’: Jensen Huang said that Washington should maximize the speed of AI diffusion, because not doing so would give competitors an advantage Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday criticized the US government’s restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China, saying that the policy was a failure and would only spur China to accelerate AI development. The export controls gave China the spirit, motivation and government support to accelerate AI development, Huang told reporters at the Computex trade show in Taipei. The competition in China is already intense, given its strong software capabilities, extensive technology ecosystems and work efficiency, he said. “All in all, the export controls were a failure. The facts would suggest it,” he said. “The US
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed gratitude to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) for its plan to invest approximately 250 million euros (US$278 million) in a joint venture in France focused on the semiconductor and space industries. On his official X account on Tuesday, Macron thanked Hon Hai, also known globally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), for its investment projects announced at Choose France, a flagship economic summit held on Monday to attract foreign investment. In the post, Macron included a GIF displaying the national flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan), as he did for other foreign investors, including China-based
RSS