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

Fujifilm plans to spend about 10 billion yen, or US$63 million, to raise magnetic tape production capacity fivefold, citing growing demand to archive data as generative AI expands global data needs. The investment reflects tape’s continuing role in large-scale storage, where its low cost and ability to be kept offline make it useful to cloud providers and data centres.

The expansion at Fujifilm’s Odawara site in Kanagawa will run from fiscal years 2026 to 2028 and will focus mainly on its latest LTO Ultrium 10 tape. The fivefold target is measured against fiscal 2025 production. Fujifilm says disconnected tape cartridges can provide an air-gapped backup against cyberattacks such as ransomware; the company has worked on magnetic data storage since the 1950s.