Japanese tech investment firm Softbank has agreed to acquire Silicon Valley chip startup Ampere for $6.5 billion, indicating that technology originating in smartphones will eventually become integral to global data centers and the future of artificial intelligence. The eight-year-old Ampere sells chips based on Arm technology, the processor type used in virtually all mobile phones. SoftBank purchased Arm in 2016 and has since been working to ensure the technology becomes used more broadly. Softbank says it will allow Ampere to retain its own name, operating it as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

“The future of artificial superintelligence requires breakthrough computing power,” SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said in an announcement. “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.”

The sale, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approval “comes amid a flurry of deals and shifting alliances driven by a furious demand for the chips used to power AI,” writes The New York Times, pointing out that SoftBank has been at the center of several of those deals “in a bid to play a bigger role in the field.”

The company was a key player in two transactions earlier this year, joining forces with OpenAI in both of them: Cristal Intelligence, a joint venture announced in February, and the Stargate Project, an equity fund unveiled in January with Softbank and OpenAI as the leads in a roster that includes, MTX, Oracle, Nvidia, Arm and Microsoft.

SoftBank describes Ampere as “a semiconductor company that designs high-performance, energy-efficient processors specialized for next-generation cloud computing and AI workloads.” The company was established in 2017 by Renee James, its CEO, who spent 28 years at Intel, ultimately serving as president.

“With a shared vision for advancing AI, we are excited to join SoftBank Group and partner with its portfolio of leading technology companies. 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,” CNBC quotes James saying.

The AmpereOne family of cloud-native CPUs contain up to 192 high performance cores.

SoftBank expects the all-cash deal to close in the second half of 2025. Investment firm Carlyle Group, as well as Oracle, have “both have committed to selling their respective stakes in Ampere,” which CNBC says employs “1,000 semiconductor engineers.” The startup will remain headquartered in Santa Clara, California.