SoftBank Group has announced the acquisition of US chip startup Ampere Computing in an all-cash transaction valued at $6.5 billion, as the Japanese technology investor accelerates its investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The deal, announced on Wednesday, represents SoftBank's latest grand bet on transformative technology, following founder Masayoshi Son's strategic pivot towards AI. It comes after a series of multi-billion dollar investments in recent months, including backing ChatGPT operator OpenAI and the Stargate project to build AI data centre infrastructure in the United States.

"The future of artificial super intelligence requires breakthrough computing power," said Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group. "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."

Founded in 2018 by former Intel president Renee James, Ampere specialises in developing data centre central processing unit (CPU) chips based on the computing architecture from SoftBank's majority-owned Arm Holdings. These chips are used by firms such as Oracle in their cloud computing infrastructure.

"With a shared vision for advancing AI, we are excited to join SoftBank Group and partner with its portfolio of leading technology companies," said Renee James, founder and chief executive officer of Ampere. "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."

As part of the acquisition, Ampere's biggest investors, Oracle and Carlyle Group, will sell their respective positions in the company. Under the terms of the agreement, Ampere will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank Group while retaining its name and Santa Clara, California headquarters.

The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the second half of 2025. Ampere will bring approximately 1,000 semiconductor engineers to SoftBank's growing collection of chip technology companies.

Industry observers note that SoftBank's move comes at a time of sky-high valuations in the AI sector, and follows a patchy investment record. The Japanese conglomerate previously poured billions into shared office provider WeWork, which later went into administration, while the portfolio of technology startups held by SoftBank's Vision Fund investment vehicles has plummeted in value since 2022.

Ampere's chips represent an alternative to those based on the x86 architecture sold by Intel and AMD, with Arm-based chips typically consuming less energy—a crucial consideration for power-hungry AI applications.

---