Ampere Computing processors are optimized for cloud computing and AI applications and are used in a range of computing environments
SoftBank Group Corp. announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Ampere Computing, an independent silicon design company, in an all-cash transaction valued at $6.5 billion. Upon completion of the acquisition, Ampere will become a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank Group and will continue to operate under its existing name. As part of the transaction, Ampere’s lead investors — Carlyle and Oracle Corp. — will sell their respective stakes in the company.
SoftBank Group has been expanding its investments in AI infrastructure, including a partnership with OpenAI to develop and market AI systems for enterprises in an offering they’re calling Cristal intelligence and the participation in Stargate, a joint venture aiming to invest up to $500 billion for AI infrastructure in the U.S.
The acquisition of Ampere is intended to further strengthen SoftBank’s AI computing capabilities. “Advancements in computing power are critical to AI development,” said Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. “Ampere’s expertise in semiconductors and high-performance computing will contribute to this effort.”
Founded in Silicon Valley in 2018, Ampere designs processors optimized for cloud computing and AI applications. The company’s products are used in a range of computing environments, including edge computing and data centers. Renée J. James, founder and CEO of Ampere Computing, shared that the deal gives the company the opportunity to continue work on its “Arm-based processor roadmap for cloud and AI workloads.” Notably, Softbank acquired Arm in 2016 for $32 billion.
At MWC 2025, Ampere Chief Product Officer Jeff Wittich walked RCR Wireless News through the company’s journey, explaining that prior to establishing Ampere Computing in 2017, James spent 28 years at Intel, and by the time of her exit, held the position of president. “And the real goal was to build a power efficient and high performance CPU — the gap that we saw … was that while were were increasing the performance of processors every single year, we weren’t doing so in a particularly power efficient manner.” He said that for those at Ampere, it was becoming clear that the data centers were running into power constraints.
At the time, he continued, the industry didn’t really want to make a big deal about it. “It seemed like the problem was smaller enough that could just tweak things here and there. Now it’s the biggest problem,” he said. “A new approach was needed and we decided tha tthe best way to do that ws to start from scratch, build a new CPU.”
And that was the 64-bit Arm-based server processor Ampere eMAG, designed for cloud and data center workloads. It was built on 16nm process technology, featuring up to 32 cores and targeted cloud computing and hyperscale environments as an alternative to x86-based solutions. Since then, Ampere has transitioned to its Altra and Altra Max processors, which Wittich said offer significantly higher core counts and performance improvements.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second half of 2025.
