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SoftBank has introduced its acquisition of Graphcore, a number one British AI chipmaker. The deal will see Graphcore turning into a wholly-owned subsidiary of SoftBank.
This acquisition, reportedly valued at about $600 million, is just not SoftBank’s first foray into the UK tech scene.
In 2016, SoftBank controversially acquired British chip designer Arm in a a lot bigger deal. Nonetheless, the Graphcore buy comes at a decrease valuation than the full funding the corporate is claimed to have raised, which was round $700 million.
Graphcore will proceed to function beneath its personal identify and keep its headquarters in Bristol, UK. The corporate additionally retains its workplaces in Cambridge, London, Gdansk, and Hsinchu, signalling SoftBank’s dedication to preserving Graphcore’s established presence and operations.
Nigel Toon, co-founder and CEO of Graphcore, stated: “It is a great endorsement of our crew and their potential to construct really transformative AI applied sciences at scale, in addition to an incredible end result for our firm.”
Toon went on to stress the continued demand for AI compute and the work that continues to be to be carried out in enhancing effectivity, resilience, and computational energy to completely realise AI’s potential.
Graphcore’s key providing is a spread of “Intelligence Processing Items” – accelerators designed particularly for AI workloads – together with a software program stack that enables builders to utilise its {hardware} successfully.
The corporate’s know-how has typically impressed. In 2020, a Graphcore gadget outperformed an Nvidia A100 GPU, and in one other occasion, its {hardware} halved the time required to deal with a GPU-based drug discovery workload.
Regardless of these technological successes, Graphcore has struggled to generate vital income and obtain profitability. In 2022, the corporate reported income of simply $2.7 million – a 46 % year-on-year lower – whereas working bills reached $206.8 million.
Vikas J. Parekh, Managing Accomplice at SoftBank Funding Advisers, commented: “Society is embracing the alternatives supplied by basis fashions, generative AI functions, and new approaches to scientific discovery.
“Subsequent technology semiconductors and compute programs are important within the AGI journey, we’re happy to collaborate with Graphcore on this mission.”
The point out of AGI (Synthetic Common Intelligence) in Parekh’s assertion means that SoftBank sees Graphcore’s know-how as a key part within the pursuit of extra superior AI programs that may match or exceed human-level intelligence throughout a variety of duties.
Graphcore has constructed a repute as a number one employer within the UK’s high-tech economic system, and the corporate has dedicated to persevering with its funding in creating high-skilled jobs throughout varied disciplines.
The acquisition of Graphcore by SoftBank is probably going to supply the AI chipmaker with vital assets and alternatives for enlargement. It additionally displays the rising competitors within the AI chip market, the place corporations like NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD have been vying for dominance.
As AI continues to permeate varied sectors of the economic system and society, the demand for specialised AI {hardware} is anticipated to develop. Graphcore’s integration into SoftBank’s portfolio positions each corporations to capitalise on this development.
See additionally: PC market finds new momentum amid AI interest
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