Softbank Group Corp has agreed to acquire semiconductor designer Ampere Computing LLC in a move that further broadens the Japanese investment firm’s push into artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
Softbank is buying Ampere in an all-cash transaction that values the Santa Clara, California-based firm at US$6.5 billion, according to a joint statement on Wednesday.
The deal for Ampere, whose early backers included Oracle Corp and private equity firm Carlyle Group Inc, adds to a wave of chip companies looking to capitalize on a spending boom in AI.
Photo: Kazuhiro Nogi, AFP
Oracle and Carlyle are selling their stakes in Ampere as part of the deal, which is expected to close in the second half of this year. Ampere will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Softbank, retaining both its name and Santa Clara headquarters.
Ampere, founded by former Intel Corp executive Renee James, makes processors for data center machinery including technology used by chip designer Arm Holdings PLC, which is majority-owned by Softbank.
“We are excited to join Softbank Group and partner with its portfolio of leading technology companies,” James, Ampere’s chief executive officer, said in the statement. “This is a fantastic outcome for our team, and we are excited to drive forward our AmpereOne road map for high-performance Arm processors and AI.”
In acquiring Ampere, Softbank is getting access to one of the few large design teams for the types of advanced chips used in data centers that isn’t already part of another company. It’s doing that as demand for those chips explodes amid runaway spending on AI infrastructure. Softbank also is looking for a way to increase its ability to capture some of that spending with advanced product offerings it doesn’t already have — even through Arm.
Arm is itself looking to move from being a provider of a layer of technology to a seller of more complete solutions that it can fetch a higher price. For Ampere, the migration to being part of a larger company will give it access to resources and possibly a larger set of customers that will make the economics of chip design work.
“The future of artificial super intelligence requires breakthrough computing power,” Softbank chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said in the statement. “Ampere’s expertise in semiconductors and high-performance computing will help accelerate this vision, and deepens our commitment to AI innovation in the US.”
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
The government yesterday approved applications by Alphabet Inc’s Google to invest NT$27.08 billion (US$859.98 million) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. The Department of Investment Review approved two investments proposed by Google, with much of the funds to be used for data processing and electronic information supply services, as well as inventory procurement businesses in the semiconductor field, the ministry said. It marks the second consecutive year that Google has applied to increase its investment in Taiwan. Google plans to infuse NT$25.34 billion into Charter Investments Ltd (特許投資顧問) through its Singapore-based subsidiary Fructan Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, and
JET JUICE: The war on Iran’s secondary effects have seen fuel prices skyrocket, knocking flight schedules down to earth in return as airlines struggle with costs Airline passengers should brace for more irritation in the next few months as carriers worldwide cancel flights and ground planes to cope with stratospheric increases in jet-fuel prices. Dutch flag carrier KLM is the latest company to cut its schedule, saying on Thursday that it would scrap 80 return flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the coming month. That puts it in the same league as United Airlines Holdings Inc, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, which have all pruned itineraries to mitigate costs. Global capacity for next month has been reduced by about 3 percentage points, with all
FORESEEABLE CONSEQUENCES: New technology always comes with new innovations by the iniquitous in exploiting users for financial gain or more nefarious ends Artificial intelligence (AI) “agents” say they can save users time and energy by automating tasks, but the growing power of systems such as OpenClaw is putting cybersecurity experts on edge. Powered by a wave of hype, OpenClaw today says it has more than three million users worldwide. The system allows users to create so-called agents, tools based on a large language model (LLM) such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic PBC’s Claude, that can carry out online tasks. “We’ve moved from an AI you could talk with via a chatbot to an agentic AI, which can take action... the threat and the risks are
RSS