ARM to compete with AI customers in 2025, says report
Processor IP licensor ARM Holdings plc is planning to set up a AI chip division and build a prototype AI processor by spring 2025 and have it on sale in fall 2025, according to Nikkei.
Such a move would likely bring ARM into conflict with customers but apparently is the will of ARM’s owner, SoftBank Group and its CEO Masayoshi Son.
Mass production of the chip by contract manufacturers will begin in fall 2025, Nikkei said. ARM already licenses its instruction set architecture and cores to most of the world’s leading chip vendors. That includes Nvidia, the leader in AI processors.
Once the AI chip business is established the plan is for it to be spun off from ARM and then placed under direct control of SoftBank. However, this does not address whether ARM’s licensing business model would have been fundamentally damaged in the interim.
The possibility of ARM competing with customers was discussed when Nvidia attempted to buy ARM – eventually blocked by antitrust authorities. It is thought that it was one of the reasons authorities chose to block the move. It would represent a major break with the practise at ARM which, like foundry chip supplier TSMC, has always tried not to compete with customers.
SoftBank AI transformation
However, the move is part of a multi-year mission adopted by SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son to turn his company into an AI powerhouse. Son intends to spend 10 trillion yen (about US$64 billion) to achieve this over the next few years, Nikkei said.
SoftBank is already negotiating with foundry supplier TSMC and others trying to secure leading-edge chip manufacturing capacity for its AI processor, Nikkei said.
The acquisition of another UK company, the troubled Graphcore Ltd. (Bristol, England) could be folded in to Son’s AI ambitions (see SoftBank closer to buying Graphcore, say reports). However, the deal may fail on the expectations of investors who at one time saw Graphcore being touted as a ‘double unicorn’ worth more than two billion dollars.
Any deals around Graphcore and ARM selling its own AI processors could also involve generative AI software pioneer OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman. Like Son, Altman has a strong belief in the rising significance of AI and expressed interest in trying to create a focus on the hardware (see OpenAI’s Altman seeks trillions of dollars for chip project).
Related links and articles:
News articles:
Could SoftBank, OpenAI buy lossmaking Graphcore?
SoftBank’s Son seeks US$100 billion for own AI processor venture
OpenAI’s Altman seeks trillions of dollars for chip project
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