Japanese chipmaker Rapidus says it is working on an alliance with Canadian startup Tenstorrent, which has an edge in AI chip design.
Rapidus was jointly established by Japanese majors last year in a bid to reduce the heavy reliance on imported chips.
The plan was announced at a meeting for AI and semiconductor companies from North America and Japan. An official memorandum exchange is set for Thursday.
Tenstorrent aims to establish a research and development base in Japan as early as next year and work with a Japanese firm involved in high-level arithmetic processing.
It is also eyeing collaborations with Japanese automakers and electronics manufacturers regarding automated driving systems.