SoftBank Group Corp. (OTC:SFTBF) (OTC:SFTBY) led by has announced the acquisition of Graphcore, a UK-based chipmaker, in a significant move to bolster its artificial intelligence capabilities.
What Happened: SoftBank, led by Masayoshi Son, has acquired Graphcore, a startup focused on AI, founded by UK semiconductor industry veterans in 2016. The acquisition is part of SoftBank’s multibillion-dollar AI push and will position Graphcore alongside chip designer Arm Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:ARM) in SoftBank’s portfolio, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
“With the advent and the acceleration of AI, what's going to be critical is the foundation layers — not just the models but all the infrastructure around it, including on the semiconductor and systems side,” said Vikas Parekh, a San Francisco-based SoftBank executive ...