SoftBank seals $6.5 bn deal for chip designer Ampere

SoftBank Group Corp. on Thursday announced that it is acquiring Silicon Valley startup Ampere Computing in an all-cash transaction valued at $6.5 billion.

The deal will make Ampere a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank, but the company will keep its name and headquarters in Santa Clara, California.

Under the deal, Ampere’s major investors, including Carlyle and Oracle Corp., will sell their stakes.
SoftBank said the acquisition in line with its broader artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure investments, which include other ventures such as Cristal Intelligence and Stargate.

“The future of Artificial Super Intelligence requires breakthrough computing power,” said Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of SoftBank Group. “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.”

Renee James, founder and CEO of Ampere, said, “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.”

Founded in 2018 in Silicon Valley, Ampere initially focused on cloud-native computing but later expanded into sustainable AI compute solutions. The company provides products for cloud workloads spanning from edge computing to large-scale data centers.

The acquisition is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second half of this year.