SoftBank buys chipmaker Ampere Computing for $6.5 billion, deepening AI bet

SoftBank has acquired chipmaker Ampere Computing for $6.5 billion to build AI infrastructure.

Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group is accelerating its move into chip technology companies with the $6.5 billion purchase of Ampere Computing, a U.S. chip startup founded by the former president of Intel.

The all-cash deal announced on Wednesday comes as SoftBank steps up its investment in the infrastructure needed to power artificial intelligence, which founder Masayoshi Son has latched on to as his latest grand bet on a transformative technology.

It follows a series of multi-billion dollar investments announced in recent months, including in ChatGPT operator OpenAI, the Stargate project to build AI data center infrastructure in the U.S. and Cristal, a joint venture with OpenAI to develop AI services in Japan for corporate customers.

Ampere makes data center central processing unit (CPU) chips based on a computing architecture from SoftBank's majority-owned Arm Holdings that are used by firms such as Oracle in their cloud computing infrastructure.

As part of the deal, Ampere's biggest investors, Oracle and Carlyle Group, will sell their respective positions in the company, SoftBank said.

Son said in a statement that the future of "artificial super intelligence" would require breakthrough computing power.

"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," he said.