Fujifilm to boost tape production 5x as AI fuels archiving demand

Fujifilm said it will invest roughly 10 billion yen (about $63 million) to increase its magnetic tape production capacity fivefold versus fiscal year 2025 levels, citing "exponential growth" in data needs from generative AI. The investment at its Kanagawa Factory's Odawara site, running from fiscal years 2026 through 2028, is described as its largest to date in dedicated LTO tape facilities and will primarily produce the latest-generation FUJIFILM LTO Ultrium10 tape. Fujifilm said major cloud service and data center operators are expanding tape use for low-cost bulk storage and air-gapped protection against threats such as ransomware.