Japanese chipmaking venture Rapidus said Friday it will enter into a tie-up with Canadian startup Tenstorrent to mass produce semiconductors for artificial intelligence.
The chips they aim to jointly produce will consume less electricity than existing ones used in products such as smartphones and smartwatches.
Rapidus President Atsuyoshi Koike and Tenstorrent's Jim Keller, CEO of the chip designer, signed an agreement in California on Thursday.
"We will manufacture quality chips in collaboration with Tenstorrent," Koike said in a phone interview. "They took interest in our plan to manufacture semiconductors rapidly."
Rapidus, set up last year through investments from such companies as Toyota and Sony, is planning to mass produce state-of-the-art 2-nanometer chips from 2027.
The company said earlier this week that it will open a business base in Silicon Valley by the end of March as it seeks to expand its sales network in the United States in anticipation of growth in demand.