Silicon Chemistry: Air Liquide Invests €200M in Japan’s AI Infrastructure

The production of neural processors is impossible without ultra-pure industrial gases. On April 16, 2026, the French corporation Air Liquide announced a 200 million euro investment in the construction of new gas plants in Hiroshima, Japan.

The investment is directly tied to supporting local manufacturers of next-generation semiconductors. Against the backdrop of Tokyo's recent decision to pour an additional $4 billion into the national Rapidus project (producing 2nm chips), Air Liquide's move logically completes the supply chain. Japan is aggressively building a sovereign loop for AI chip production, completely isolated from geopolitical risks: from lithography equipment and silicon wafers to chemical components of the highest purity.

Source: Air Liquide / Reuters