SoftBank Agrees to $6.5 Billion Purchase of Ampere Computing

SoftBank Group announced on Wednesday that it will acquire Ampere Computing, a startup known for its Arm-based server chips, in a deal valued at $6.5 billion. The acquisition is anticipated to close in the second half of 2025, as stated by the company.  Carlyle Group and Oracle have both agreed to sell their stakes in Ampere, which will remain an independent subsidiary and continue to be headquartered in Santa Clara, California. SoftBank Group's Chairman and CEO, Masayoshi Son, highlighted the strategic importance of this acquisition, noting that Ampere's semiconductor expertise and focus on high-performance computing align with SoftBank's goals in artificial intelligence (AI). The company employs about 1,000 engineers dedicated to semiconductor development. This acquisition comes as SoftBank continues to expand its investments in the AI infrastructure sector. Recent initiatives include a partnership with OpenAI aimed at developing enterprise-level AI solutions and involvement in the U.S. private AI investment initiative named Stargate, which is backed by a $500 billion investment from President Donald Trump.  Renee James, Founder and CEO of Ampere, expressed enthusiasm about joining SoftBank, emphasizing the shared commitment to advancing AI technology. She mentioned that this collaboration would help propel Ampere's roadmap for high-performance Arm processors. Since acquiring British chip designer Arm for $32 billion in 2016, SoftBank has actively pursued opportunities in the semiconductor market. The Arm architecture provides an energy-efficient alternative to x86-based chips offered by Intel and AMD. Major cloud service providers like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft have begun offering Arm-based chips, indicating a shift towards this energy-efficient technology. Following the announcement of the acquisition, SoftBank's shares experienced a slight decline of about 2% on Thursday.