Taiwan's TSMC said Thursday it will produce three-nanometre semiconductors, among the most advanced chips that can power AI systems, at a factory currently under construction in Japan.
The firm is the world's biggest contract maker of microchips used in everything from Apple phones to Nvidia's artificial intelligence hardware.
It opened its first Japanese chip plant two years ago in the southwestern region of Kumamoto, touting it as a move to boost the resiliency of chip supply for Japan and worldwide.
TSMC is also building a second factory there, reportedly originally slated to churn out six-nanometre chips for telecommunication devices.
Three- and six-nanometres are marketing terms, but in general the smaller the number, the higher the density of microscopic components in each chip, and the better the performance.
The move to three-nanometre tech is to "meet strong demand driven by AI," TSMC's public relations office said.
Chief executive C.C. Wei told Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of the plan to "use 3nm technology for production" at the Japan subsidiary's second factory in Kumamoto, it said.
If realised, the manufacturing of three-nanometre chips will be the first in Japan, public broadcaster NHK said.
But they are not the most cutting-edge type on the market, with TSMC already mass-producing next-generation two-nanometre chips in Taiwan.
Japanese chipmaker Rapidus is also building a plant in northern Japan to make two-nanometre chips, with production set to start in 2027.
