Japanese Chipmaker Tests Robots to Fully Automate Production

Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Rapidus is exploring the use of robots to fully automate production at a chip plant in Hokkaido in northern Japan, according to the company’s president.

Rapidus was only formed in 2022 by the Japanese government with financial help from Sony, SoftBank and Toyota to shore up the country’s semiconductor supply chain.

The company is building a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Hokkaido which aims to start mass producing 2 nanometer edge AI chips from 2027.

Rapidus president Atsuyoshi Koike told Nikkei Asia that the company will look to automate operations at the factory to reduce wait times for customers by one-third.

Koike said that automation will offer “higher performance and faster turnaround times” than rival firms producing similar 2-nm chips, such as Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

While front-end processes like packing together multiple hardware units are routinely automated by chip manufacturers, back-end processes are still largely done by humans.

“As assembly becomes more complicated, we handle more materials, which requires speed and efficiency,” Koike told Nikkei.

Rapidus wants to augment the back-end chip production efforts using emerging technologies, with plans to work with Japanese suppliers in the hopes of further speeding up manufacturing times.

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“In the past, Japanese chipmakers tried to keep their technology development exclusively in-house, which pushed up development costs and made them less competitive,” Koike said. 

He instead advocated for standardizing such innovations to reduce production costs.

Other chipmakers automating back-end processes include Intel, which is collaborating with 14 Japanese semiconductor firms on these initiatives and Yamaha, which is using robots to enhance wafer and die-handling tasks in its facilities.

To achieve Koike’s plan to automate chip production, Rapidus needs cash. According to Nikkei, the nascent chip-making company estimates it requires around $14 billion by the time it commences prototype production in 2025.

Koike said Rapidus is finding it difficult to obtain support from private entities given it is early in its life as a business.

"Discussions are moving forward on making it easier to raise capital, such as a system for government loan guarantees," the company’s president said.