Japanese toilet maker Toto is turning a bathroom brand into a memory‑chip supplier. Its ceramics arm, founded in 1984, now accounts for more than half of the company’s operating profit this year, driven by AI‑chip demand. The division enjoys a 34 % jump in revenue and sits on a 55 % slice of Toto’s ¥53.8 billion profit for the first time this quarter.

Toto plans to pour another ¥30 billion—roughly $192 million—into mass production and R&D next fiscal year. It positions itself as the world’s second‑largest producer of electrostatic chucks, or E‑chucks, that lock silicon wafers during NAND fabrication. That niche, coupled with aerosol deposition parts for LCD panels, keeps the company close to AI cooling.

Other Japanese firms, like cosmetics maker Kao and MSG pioneer Ajinomoto, are also squeezing the semiconductor market, underscoring how AI growth lifts unexpected players. With a projected 27 % rise for its ceramics unit next year, Toto’s moves show that the AI boom can buoy even off‑beat industry segments, reshaping supply chains and profit charts.