Japan's Rapidus to fully automate 2-nm chip fab, president says

TOKYO -- Japanese chipmaker Rapidus plans to use robots and artificial intelligence to fully automate production at a chip fabrication facility being built in northern Japan, a move meant to slash delivery times compared with rivals, President Atsuyoshi Koike told Nikkei.

Rapidus -- Japan's new government-backed hope for regaining its edge in chipmaking -- broke ground on the facility in Hokkaido last September. Construction of the exterior will be nearly complete by this October, after which work will start on clean rooms inside the building.