en.Wedoany.com Reported - On June 16, Japan's advanced semiconductor company Rapidus announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Italy's Fondazione Chips-IT to collaborate on future semiconductor manufacturing. Fondazione Chips-IT is an Italian private law foundation focused on semiconductor integrated circuit design, serving as a hub connecting Italy's semiconductor research, industry, and international cooperation resources. This memorandum establishes a new framework for cooperation between Japan and Italy in advanced semiconductor technology, R&D collaboration, and industrial ecosystem development.

This cooperation takes place against the backdrop of strengthened technological collaboration between Japan and Italy. According to a Rapidus announcement, in January this year, leaders of Japan and Italy confirmed their commitment to promoting bilateral technological cooperation in frontier fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, semiconductors, and biomanufacturing. On June 15, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi visited Italy and met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with both sides continuing to advance related arrangements for technological cooperation. The memorandum between Rapidus and Chips-IT was signed precisely within this intergovernmental cooperation context.

Rapidus is a core enterprise in Japan's recent efforts to rebuild advanced logic semiconductor manufacturing capabilities, aiming to achieve mass production of cutting-edge 2-nanometer logic semiconductors by 2027. The company is constructing the IIM advanced R&D and manufacturing base in Chitose, Hokkaido, and emphasizes providing faster advanced semiconductor manufacturing services to customers by shortening cycles in design, wafer manufacturing, and 3D packaging. For Japan, Rapidus is not only a wafer manufacturing company but also bears the strategic mission of reshaping the country's advanced process, packaging, and semiconductor supply chain coordination capabilities.

Chips-IT is an important platform in Italy's semiconductor design ecosystem. Headquartered in Pavia, it is positioned as Italy's semiconductor integrated circuit design center, focusing on chip design research and innovation while aligning with the direction of the European Chips Act. Italy aims to leverage Chips-IT to connect universities, research institutions, industrial companies, and international partners, enhancing its autonomy in integrated circuit design and strategic technology fields. Through cooperation with Rapidus, Chips-IT can leverage Japan's advanced manufacturing technology and industrialization experience to expand its capabilities in bridging advanced chip design and manufacturing.

The focus of this memorandum is not an immediate announcement of a new wafer fab construction or the confirmation of large-scale commercial orders, but rather the establishment of mechanisms for information sharing and subsequent cooperation discussions. The Rapidus announcement clearly states that both parties will begin information sharing and discussions after the agreement is signed to strengthen future cooperation. For the advanced semiconductor industry, where design, manufacturing, packaging, EDA tools, materials, equipment, and customer verification are highly interconnected, international cooperation often needs to start with technical exchanges, research collaboration, and ecosystem alignment before gradually moving into joint projects or commercial manufacturing stages.

Rapidus has also recently signed a memorandum with the UK Semiconductor Centre, indicating that it is making Europe a key direction for international cooperation. The UK Semiconductor Centre is a national institution driving the development of the UK's semiconductor industry, while Chips-IT plays a pivotal role in Italy's semiconductor design ecosystem. Rapidus's consecutive establishment of cooperative relationships with relevant institutions in the UK and Italy shows that Japan aims to expand its sources of advanced process customers, R&D networks, and industrial cooperation channels through European research and design resources. For Europe, leveraging Rapidus's 2-nanometer manufacturing goals also helps find more manufacturing cooperation options for local chip design projects.

From an industrial chain perspective, Japan and Italy have strong complementarity in the semiconductor field. Japan has long-standing expertise in semiconductor materials, equipment, manufacturing processes, and precision engineering, while Italy and Europe have foundations in automotive electronics, industrial chips, research institutions, and design talent. The development of advanced logic chips and AI chips requires close integration of design and manufacturing capabilities. After establishing a cooperation framework between Rapidus and Chips-IT, if specific projects for chip design, prototyping verification, or manufacturing services can be formed in the future, it will help align Japan's advanced manufacturing capabilities with Europe's design ecosystem.

This cooperation is still at the memorandum stage, and its subsequent effectiveness depends on whether both parties can form specific R&D tasks, technical interfaces, talent exchanges, and prototyping arrangements. The barriers to advanced semiconductor manufacturing are high, and the mass production of 2-nanometer processes involves multiple aspects such as EUV lithography, GAA transistors, yield control, packaging coordination, and customer verification. Whether Chips-IT can channel Italian and European design demands into Rapidus's manufacturing system, and whether Rapidus can advance its 2-nanometer mass production plan by 2027, will determine the actual industrial value of this cooperation.

Japan's Rapidus and Italy's Chips-IT signing a semiconductor manufacturing cooperation memorandum marks an acceleration in connecting Japan's advanced process reconstruction plan with Europe's semiconductor ecosystem. This cooperation serves both Japan's goal of expanding its 2-nanometer manufacturing international cooperation network and Italy's aim to enhance its integrated circuit design and advanced manufacturing linkage capabilities. As demand for AI, automotive, industrial, and high-performance computing chips grows, cross-border semiconductor cooperation will shift from single supply relationships to systematic collaboration involving R&D, design, manufacturing, and packaging.

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