SoftBank announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to pay $6.5 billion for the Silicon Valley chip start-up Ampere Computing. This move represents a significant investment in technology that SoftBank believes will play a crucial role in the development of artificial intelligence infrastructure. Ampere was founded eight years ago to create chips for data centers, utilizing technology licensed from Arm Holdings, a British company well-known for its chip designs that power nearly all mobile phones.
SoftBank, which acquired Arm in 2016, has been working to expand the use of Arm-based technology across various sectors, including high-performance computing. SoftBank’s chairman and chief executive, Masayoshi Son, emphasized the strategic importance of this acquisition.
SoftBank’s investment in AI chips
“The future of artificial superintelligence requires breakthrough computing power,” he said. Ampere’s expertise in semiconductors and high-performance computing will help accelerate this vision, and deepens our commitment to A.I. innovation in the United States.”
The Japanese conglomerate plans to operate Ampere as a wholly owned subsidiary under its existing name. This acquisition is part of a broader trend of deals and partnerships driven by the soaring demand for chips that fuel A.I. applications, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
In its most high-profile move, Mr. Son joined President Trump in January to discuss this significant investment alongside Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief, and Larry Ellison, chairman and founder of Oracle, which is Ampere’s largest investor and customer. SoftBank’s purchase of Ampere underscores its strategic efforts to solidify its position in the competitive and rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence technology.
Photo by; Jorge Ramirez on Unsplash
