The Japanese government will inject 250 billion yen (approximately US$1.6 billion) into the chip manufacturer Rapidus. The new funding, which will be available over the next two fiscal years, will bring Japan closer to its goal of providing a total of 3 trillion yen in support to help Rapidus mass-produce cutting-edge 2-nanometer logic chips and potentially challenge industry leader TSMC.
Under the new arrangement, the government will initially hold only about 10% of the voting shares in Rapidus and own the majority of the non-voting shares, Economy, Trade and Industry official Tomoshige Nambu said on Friday.
But if the company gets into financial trouble, the government reserves the right to convert it into voting shares to take a majority stake. Nambu said the government would also receive "golden shares", giving it ultimate veto power over major changes to the company.
