Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is set to acquire chip start-up Ampere Computing for $6.5 billion, a move aimed at bolstering its bet on artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers. The deal is also seen as an attempt by SoftBank to challenge Nvidia’s dominance in the AI chip market.
Ampere was founded eight years ago with the goal of selling chips for data centers based on Arm Holdings’ technology. SoftBank acquired Arm in 2016, paving the way for this latest acquisition. Ampere has mainly marketed its microprocessors for general-purpose data center jobs but recently announced a new chip, called Aurora, designed specifically for AI inferencing applications.
The sale comes amid intense competition for AI chips, with giant companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft developing their own microprocessors based on Arm technology. Oracle, however, remains an exception, having offered online services powered by Ampere chips and disclosing equity and debt investments in the company.
Nvidia supplies chips called graphics processing units (GPUs) to power A.I. calculations, while Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) design general-purpose computing microprocessors that handle tasks such as building special software programs called models. The market for AI host processors and microprocessors is expected to grow to $33 billion by 2030 from $12.5 billion in 2025, according to IDC.
SoftBank’s chairman and CEO, Masayoshi Son, stated that the acquisition will help accelerate its vision of “artificial superintelligence” and deepen its commitment to A.I. innovation. The deal is part of SoftBank’s Stargate initiative, a $500 billion investment in U.S. data centers to power OpenAI operations, alongside Larry Ellison and Sam Altman.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/technology/softbank-ampere-chips.html