SoftBank splashes $6.5bn on chip firm Ampere Computing

• Japanese tech giant SoftBank Group already owns a majority stake in UK chip designer Arm 
• Now it is adding US chip developer Ampere Computing to its portfolio
• The catalyst, as in many cases these days, is AI and its infrastructure demands
• It would also give SoftBank Group an additional pitch in the radio access network (RAN) infrastructure sector

SoftBank Group, the Japanese technology and investment giant founded and run by its chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son, has taken the next step in its efforts to become a global leader in the AI infrastructure sector with an agreement to acquire chip developer Ampere Computing, based in Santa Clara, California, for $6.5bn in cash, a move that will also strengthen SoftBank’s hand in the next-generation radio access network (RAN) tech sector. 

The acquisition of Ampere, which develops central processing units (CPUs) for cloud servers, was expected – Bloomberg reported in January that negotiations between the companies were underway. Ampere had been seeking a buyer for some time as it came under increasing competitive pressure from the likes of Intel and AMD, pressure that impacted its revenues significantly in recent years: In 2024, Ampere generated revenues of just $16.5m (down from $46.7m in 2023) and reported an operating loss of $510.6m.   

Ampere’s chips, which are used by the likes of Microsoft, Google, Oracle, Tencent, HPE and Supermicro, are based on designs from UK semiconductor designer Arm which, of course, is majority owned by SoftBank Group. The relationship goes deeper than that, though, as Arm holds an 8.08% stake in Ampere, so the companies are well known to each other and SoftBank Group will have had an inside track into Ampere’s developments.  

Ampere’s current main investors – Carlyle Group (59.65%) and Oracle (32.27%) – have agreed to sell their stakes, with the deal expected to be completed during the second half of 2025. It’s worth noting that Oracle is one of the partners – along with SoftBank Group, Chat GPT developer OpenAI and Abu Dhabi-based tech investment firm MGX – in The Stargate Project, a new company unveiled in January that plans to build new AI infrastructure (datacentres) in the US.

Indeed, SoftBank Group noted in its acquisition announcement that as it “broadens its AI infrastructure investments in ventures such as Cristal intelligence and Stargate, the acquisition will help enhance SoftBank Group’s capabilities in key areas and accelerate its growth initiatives.” Cristal intelligence is an advanced enterprise AI system being developed by SoftBank Group and OpenAI, as announced in February. 

Masayoshi Son stated: “The future of artificial super intelligence requires breakthrough computing power. 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.”

Renée James, founder and CEO of Ampere, stated: “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,” she added. 

Here’s more about SoftBank Group (SBG)’s rationale behind the acquisition, as stated in this separate announcement: “Ampere is a semiconductor company that designs high-performance, energy-efficient processors specialised for next-generation cloud computing and AI workloads. With approximately 1,000 highly skilled semiconductor engineers and its notable technological capabilities, Ampere is expected to play a key role in future growth markets. The transaction is aligned with SBG’s broader strategic vision and commitment to driving innovation in AI and compute. Ampere is expected to collaborate with the broader SBG ecosystem, including group companies, investees, and business partners. Through this strategic alignment following the transaction, Ampere’s expertise in developing and taping out Arm-based chips can be integrated, complementing design strengths of Arm Holdings plc.” 

SoftBank Group also noted that Ampere has developed “multiple products for a spectrum of cloud workloads from the edge to the cloud datacentre”. 

And it’s the edge option that will give SoftBank Group an additional push into the telecom infrastructure sector once the acquisition is completed. In the RAN market, mobile operators are slowly but surely migrating more towards virtual RAN (vRAN) deployments, which currently means they’re reliant on servers based on Intel processors (simply because there hasn’t been a viable alternative). 

Arm has long looked for a way to have its designs used in mobile networks but has never made an impact. Now, though, Ampere could provide the route in, particularly with the backing and support of the SoftBank Group empire. And, in fact, Ampere just recently announced it is “accelerating its effort to address the telecom market, bringing its high-performance, energy-efficient processors to next-generation RAN networks,” and is collaborating with the likes of Fujitsu, Orex SAI (a joint venture between NTT Docomo and NEC), Parallel Wireless, Supermicro and others to target telecom sector opportunities (see this announcement for details).   

That’s not SoftBank Group’s only route into the telco edge, though: Its mobile operator company, Japanese telco SoftBank Corp, is one of the founders of the AI-RAN Alliance, which is hell bent on persuading mobile network operators to migrate as quickly as they can to a network edge hardware platform that can support AI and RAN workloads simultaneously. And one of the other founders of the AI-RAN Alliance, it should be noted, is Arm (this is a coordinated effort folks!). 

Masayoshi Son has spied an opportunity for his SoftBank Group portfolio of companies to develop, design and use some of the key technology building blocks that will underpin centralised and distributed cloud technology stacks supporting AI and communications services in the future and he’s prepared to splash the cash in order to achieve that goal.       

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV