Ibm, Toshiba Will Build Chip Plant

IBM and Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday they will build a $1.2 billion computer chip manufacturing plant in the United States - a tightening of ties between American and Japanese semiconductor makers.

The 50-50 venture, to be built at an IBM-owned site in Manassas, Va., will produce next-generation 64-megabit memory chips. Each chip will be able to store the equivalent of the complete works of Shakespeare.

By joining together, the two companies said they hope to reduce the risk and shorten the time it takes to launch production of the high-tech chips.

The deal will be the latest of several between the two companies.