Outside SoftBank Group’s headquarters in Tokyo on January 22, 2025, the company’s iconic logo stands prominently. In a recent announcement, SoftBank Group unveiled plans to purchase Ampere Computing, a budding startup that has developed an Arm-based server chip, for a hefty $6.5 billion. The deal is anticipated to finalize in the latter half of 2025, according to their statement.
Both Carlyle Group and Oracle have agreed to offload their stakes in Ampere to SoftBank, the company confirmed. Ampere will maintain its status as an independent subsidiary, with its headquarters remaining in Santa Clara, California.
“Ampere’s prowess in semiconductors and high-performance computing is instrumental in propelling our vision, strengthening our dedication to AI innovation in the U.S.,” remarked SoftBank Group’s Chairman and CEO, Masayoshi Son, as quoted in their statement.
The startup boasts a team of 1,000 semiconductor engineers, SoftBank elaborated in a separate announcement.
Chips designed with Arm’s instruction set offer a noteworthy alternative to those crafted on the x86 architecture, primarily sold by Intel and AMD. These Arm-based chips are often more energy-efficient. Renee James, Ampere’s founder and CEO, launched the startup in 2017. Previously, she had dedicated 28 years to Intel, eventually stepping into the role of president.
Amazon Web Services, a foremost name in cloud infrastructure, provides the Graviton Arm chip for rent, which has gained traction among major clients. Additionally, Microsoft began offering its own Arm-based cloud computing services, known as Cobalt 100, this past October.
Stay tuned for further updates on this developing story.
