Last month, Allbirds—a struggling footwear company—surprised the tech world by announcing a pivot to AI, sparking immediate investor interest. Now, Japanese toilet giant Toto, a leader in the global bidet revolution, is making a similar move by doubling down on semiconductor production.
On May 14, Toto unveiled plans to invest $190 million in expanding chip manufacturing and boosting research and development. The announcement triggered an 18% surge in its stock price, reaching its highest level since 2021, as reported by the Financial Times.
From Toilets to Chips: Toto’s Strategic Shift
While Toto is best known for its high-tech toilets—equipped with features like automatic flushing, self-cleaning, and deodorizing—Toto is also the world’s second-largest producer of electrostatic chucks. These components are essential for holding NAND flash storage chips in place during manufacturing.
Driven by the AI boom, semiconductor sales now account for more than half of Toto’s profits, according to the Financial Times.
Toilet Business Struggles Amid Supply Chain Crisis
Toto’s traditional toilet business is facing headwinds due to adhesive and plastic shortages caused by the Middle East energy crisis. As a result, the company suspended new orders in mid-April.
However, the AI-driven demand for semiconductors may provide a lifeline, at least temporarily, as Toto navigates these challenges.
Related articles
Ontario Audit Warns AI Medical Scribes Fabricate Patient Data During Testing
If you’ve been to a medical appointment in the past two or three years, chances are high that your doctor was using an AI scribe: software that listen...
Why AI Is Fueling Resentment and Burnout Among Women in Relationships
If you’ve been on TikTok lately, you might have come across a viral meme showing yet another dark side of AI: its impact on cishet relationship dynami...
Are AI Data Centers Emitting Harmful Infrasound? Residents Report Unsettling Effects
As the AI boom trundles along, the data centers powering it have quickly become unwelcome neighbors across the country. Opponents point to a great ran...
Meta Employees Protest Workplace Surveillance Amid AI Training Data Concerns
Mark Zuckerberg’s new initiative to track employee computer use is tearing the company apart. In a sign that those simmering tensions are boiling over...
AI Art Debate Erupts After Viral Monet Painting Hoax Tricks Social Media Users
A poster wrought some moderate havoc this week when they shared a cropped image of a real Monet painting while claiming it was an AI fake, unleashing...
AI Hiring Tools Trap Qualified Job Seekers in Unfair Screening Loops
For workers already enmeshed in the US workforce, AI is akin to a far-off asteroid, a looming threat that could impact all life on Earth. Our best exp...
Could AI-Driven Mass Unemployment Spark Social Unrest?
These days, the conversation around AI automation and the job market is increasingly focused on “labor displacement,” the phenomenon in which new tech...
Elon Musk Skips OpenAI Trial Amid Legal Pressure and International Travel to China with Trump
Elon Musk is locked in a heated trial in a lawsuit he lodged against his rival OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman. Or at least, he’s supposed to be. Despit...