Japan is set to spend roughly ￥252.5 billion (US$1.6 billion) in an extra budget to further support developments of artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors.
The sum is much smaller than the about ￥1.5 trillion allocation in last year’s supplementary budget, as the government is expected to start securing most of the additional funding for those sectors in regular budgets going forward, a ruling party lawmaker and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said.
That is expected to provide more stable funding to the sectors.
Photo: AFP
After Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet signed off on it yesterday, the extra budget now needs approval in parliament. That passage is expected to go more smoothly, as Takaichi’s ruling coalition is reportedly set to secure a majority in the powerful lower house due to the addition of a small caucus.
So far, Japan has set aside about ￥5.7 trillion since it came up with a new strategy in 2021 to revive the nation’s semiconductor industry. The government has been allocating sums to specific projects such as Rapidus Corp, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) Kumamoto foundries and Micron Technology Inc’s Hiroshima factory.
In the extra budget, the METI has also requested ￥100 billion to invest in Nippon Export and Investment Insurance to strengthen the government-backed trade insurer’s financial foundation. The insurer is set to play a key role in implementing a US$550 billion investment program as part of the US-Japan trade deal.
The ministry also aims to secure ￥93.7 billion in the supplementary budget to help private companies secure rare earths and strengthen national stockpiles of the critical minerals. Japan has tried to reduce its reliance on China for rare earths for economic security reasons.
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
NATIONAL SECURITY: Intel’s testing of ACM tools despite US government control ‘highlights egregious gaps in US technology protection policies,’ a former official said Chipmaker Intel Corp has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by US sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Intel, which fended off calls for its CEO’s resignation from US President Donald Trump in August over his alleged ties to China, got the tools from ACM Research Inc, a Fremont, California-based producer of chipmaking equipment. Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving US technology over claims they have
BARRIERS: Gudeng’s chairman said it was unlikely that the US could replicate Taiwan’s science parks in Arizona, given its strict immigration policies and cultural differences Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登), which supplies wafer pods to the world’s major semiconductor firms, yesterday said it is in no rush to set up production in the US due to high costs. The company supplies its customers through a warehouse in Arizona jointly operated by TSS Holdings Ltd (德鑫控股), a joint holding of Gudeng and 17 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor supply chain, including specialty plastic compounds producer Nytex Composites Co (耐特) and automated material handling system supplier Symtek Automation Asia Co (迅得). While the company has long been exploring the feasibility of setting up production in the US to address
RSS