Softbank to acquire chip designer Ampere for $6.5B
Summary
The investment firm called out Amperes expertise in the development of lightweight and fast Arm-based processors, used to power a wide array of electronics, as one of its key strengths. "The future of Artificial Super Intelligence requires breakthrough computing power,” Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank, said in a statement. Softbank has been leveraging external partnerships to forge ahead on AI, with an emphasis on OpenAI and its wildly popular ChatGPT. The partnership came weeks after SoftBank announced plans to participate in a $500 billion investment project in OpenAIs U.S. infrastructure over the next four years. The company has been losing revenue in recent years, posting a $510 million operating loss in 2024 and making it more vulnerable to a takeover.