Rapidus, Japan’s state-backed chip foundry start-up, expects US hyperscalers and ASIC designers to be key early customers for 2nm mass production when it begins in the 2nd half of 2027 at its Chitose, Japan fab, media report, citing Chairman Tetsuro Higashi. Initial products will be AI and high-performance computing (HPC) chips. Rapidus aims to shorten the design-to-finished wafer cycle time and offer integrated advanced packaging to compete with TSMC. https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20261023PD228/rapidus-production-2nm-chairman-investment.html?chid=10