The Kioxia chipmaker factory for artificial intelligence data centres is seen in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture on July 3, 2026. While Kioxia is barely known outside the tech industry, its share price has soared more than 500 percent this year, and in June it sped past auto titan Toyota to briefly become the largest Japanese firm by market capitalisation. The global race to build AI data centres has turbocharged business for chipmakers, creating shortages and sending prices soaring for memory components in particular. (Photo by Katie Forster / AFP via Getty Images) / To go with AFP story Japan-semiconductors-manufacturing-stocks-AI-Kioxia by Katie Forster