<div id="readability-page-1"><div><p>TOKYO - Japan’s industry ministry is set to nearly quadruple its budgeted support for cutting-edge semiconductors and artificial intelligence development to about 1.23 trillion yen (S$10.1 billion) for the fiscal year starting in April.</p><p>Overall the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s budget rose by about 50 per cent from the previous year to 3.07 trillion yen, largely due to the jump in chips and AI spending. After Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s cabinet signed off on it Dec 26, the government’s initial budget plan will be debated in parliament in the new year.</p><p>The jump in chips and AI spending comes at a time when Japan is trying to strengthen its capacities in frontier technology, as the United States and China race ahead. As the world’s two largest economies continue to remain on tense terms despite a lull in their trade war, Japan is also trying to secure better supply chain access for key technologies.   </p><p>Starting with the fiscal year beginning in April, the ministry also plans to secure most of the additional funding for chips and AI in regular budgets, instead of through the more ad-hoc approach of funding it through extra budgets later in the year. That’s expected to provide more stable funding to the sectors.   </p><p>For semiconductors, the ministry has earmarked 150 billion yen for state-backed chip venture Rapidus, bringing the cumulative government investment in the venture to 250 billion yen. For AI, 387.3 billion yen is being marked for the development of domestic foundation AI models, strengthening data infrastructure and “physical AI” where AI controls robots and machinery.</p><p>In the broader budget, 5 billion yen is being set aside for securing key minerals including rare earths. For decarbonisation, 122 billion yen is earmarked for areas including the development of so-called next-generation nuclear power plants.</p><p>Some 1.78 trillion yen of special bonds will also be issued to help state-backed Nippon Export and Investment Insurance support Japanese investment into the US as part of the two countries’ trade agreement. BLOOMBERG</p></div></div>

立昂微

半導體 3 倍做多 - Direxion

<p>日本工業省計劃將其半導體和人工智能的預算增加四倍，達到 1.23 萬億日元（約合 101 億美元），用於 2024 財年（從 4 月開始）。這一增加是整體預算上升至 3.07 萬億日元的一部分，旨在增強日本在全球競爭中的技術能力。該資金將支持國家支持的企業和人工智能開發，併為礦產和脱碳努力提供額外撥款</p>

日本計劃在預算中將對芯片和人工智能的支出支持增加至 100 億美元，是原來的四倍