By Berk Kutay Gokmen
ISTANBUL (AA) - Japanese investment company SoftBank Group Corporation said Thursday that it will acquire US semiconductor design company Ampere Computing Holdings for $6.5 billion.
This comes as the Japanese tech giant expands its investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The two companies said that the transaction, expected to close in the second half of 2025, will result in SoftBank’s ownership of Ampere as a subsidiary and Ampere will keep its name, according to the The Mainichi newspaper.
In recent years, SoftBank has made AI the central focus of its business strategy, advocating for the technology's adoption across various countries and industries through its influential British chip-designing subsidiary, Arm Holdings PLC.
The tech giant also increased investments in startups within the sector, such as OpenAI.
Ampere's semiconductor designs are built on the Arm platform, and its expertise can be "integrated, complementing design strengths of Arm," SoftBank Group said.
"The future of Artificial Super Intelligence requires breakthrough computing power," SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son said.
"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.