Japanese technology investment house SoftBank Group has agreed to acquire US-based semiconductor design company Ampere Computing in an all-cash transaction valued at $6.5bn. The deal will see Ampere becoming a fully owned subsidiary of SoftBank Group while maintaining its brand identity. As agreed, Ampere’s major investors, Carlyle and Oracle, will divest their stakes in the company.
The acquisition aligns with SoftBank Group’s broader investment strategy in AI infrastructure, which includes ventures such as Cristal Intelligence and Stargate. The Japanese firm also acquired UK chip design firm Graphcore last year.
“The future of Artificial Super Intelligence requires breakthrough computing power,” said SoftBank Group chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son. “Ampere’s expertise in semiconductors and high-performance computing will help accelerate this vision, and deepens our commitment to AI innovation in the US.”
Subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, the acquisition is anticipated to close in the second half of 2025. Ampere’s headquarters will continue to be located in Santa Clara, California.
Ampere’s role in the semiconductor market
Ampere Computing was founded in 2018 by semiconductor industry veteran Renée James. The company focused on cloud-native computing initially and gradually expanded into sustainable AI compute. It has positioned itself as a competitor to established x86 processor manufacturers, such as Intel and AMD, by developing Arm-based processors for cloud computing, AI workloads, and data centre applications. The company has nine locations globally.
According to the company website, Ampere introduced the industry’s first Cloud Native Processors, the Ampere Altra family, which features up to 128 cores. Ampere’s flagship AmpereOne processor family features up to 192 single-threaded cores. These processors are designed for compute environments that require high performance, predictability, and scalability.
“With a shared vision for advancing AI, we are excited to join SoftBank Group and partner with its portfolio of leading technology companies,” Ampere founder and CEO Renee James said. “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 at a time of rapid growth in the global semiconductor industry, particularly in the chiplets market. According to a report by BCC Research, the global chiplets market is expected to reach $42.8bn by 2029, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41.9% between 2024 and 2029. As of 2023, the chiplets market size stood at $5.3bn.
The study examined various processor segments, including CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs, AI-ASIC coprocessors, and APUs. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to maintain the largest market share, with enterprise electronics remaining the dominant segment, the study said.
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