SoftBank Group announced it will acquire Ampere Computing, a Silicon Valley-based startup specializing in Arm-based server chips, for $6.5 billion. The deal, expected to close in the second half of 2025, signifies SoftBank’s increasing investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure and its belief in the growing importance of Arm-based technology in data centers. Ampere will operate as an independent subsidiary, maintaining its headquarters in Santa Clara, California.
Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group, emphasized Ampere’s role in advancing AI, stating, “Ampere’s expertise in semiconductors and high-performance computing will help accelerate this vision, and deepens our commitment to AI innovation in the United States.” Ampere, founded in 2017 by former Intel president Renee James, designs chips for data centers using technology licensed from Arm Holdings, which SoftBank acquired in 2016. The acquisition aligns with SoftBank’s strategy to broaden the use of Arm-based chips in various applications, particularly in AI. Ampere’s CEO, Renee James, expressed enthusiasm about joining SoftBank, stating, “With a shared vision for advancing AI, we are excited to join SoftBank Group and partner with its portfolio of leading technology companies. This is a fantastic outcome for our team, and we are excited to drive forward our AmpereOne® roadmap for high performance Arm processors and AI.”
The acquisition comes amid a surge in demand for chips powering AI applications. SoftBank has been actively expanding its investments in the AI sector, including its partnership with OpenAI and involvement in the Stargate project, a $500 billion initiative to build U.S. data centers for AI operations. Carlyle Group and Oracle, both current investors in Ampere, have committed to selling their stakes as part of the acquisition. Ampere has 1,000 semiconductor engineers. Arm-based chips offer an alternative to the x86 architecture used by Intel and AMD, often providing lower energy consumption. Major cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (with its Graviton chips) and Microsoft (with its Cobalt 100 instances) have already adopted Arm-based solutions for cloud computing.
