SoftBank just bought US chip startup Ampere for $6.5 billion

Business Nov 26, 2025

SoftBank has snapped up Ampere Computing, a US chip startup, in a $6.5 billion deal to boost its game in the AI hardware world.
SoftBank shares rose as much as 8% Wednesday morning in Tokyo.
Ampere, founded by former Intel exec Renee James, is known for building powerful data center chips using Arm technology—fitting right into SoftBank's bigger AI plans.

Why this matters

This move strengthens SoftBank's hold on the AI hardware scene, adding to its investments in Arm and UK-based AI firm Graphcore.
With Ampere's engineering talent and client list now under its wing, SoftBank is hoping to push ahead in developing next-gen chips for all things AI.