SoftBank has acquired Graphcore, putting an end to speculation
SoftBank Group Corp has acquired UK-based AI chipmaker Graphcore for an undisclosed amount, potentially rescuing the company from financial difficulties and allowing it to continue developing its alternative to NVIDIA's dominant GPU technology, while maintaining its operations and workforce.
After substantial speculation and uncertainty about Graphcore's future, SoftBank Group Corp has acquired the UK-based chipmaker for an undisclosed amount. Although some reports place the transaction value at around $500 million, neither party has been keen to go into the financial details of the agreement. Graphcore CEO Nigel Toon has dismissed the rumored amount as inaccurate and has confirmed that the move benefits all involved parties for the most part.
Graphcore, once valued at $2.5 billion, aimed to gain a seat in the table next to NVIDIA by developing chips custom-built for AI workloads known as intelligence processing units (IPUs). IPUs are an alternative to GPUs, which are NVIDIA's most popular offering, and were created for graphics-based tasks. This departure is part of what got Graphcore into some of its troubles in the first place, as potential customers struggled (and continue to struggle) to transition smoothly from NVIDIA's ecosystem to any alternative chip, including Graphcore's. Even after Graphcore announced its troubles, industry leaders continue recognizing the CUDA software platform's role in NVIDIA's market dominance.
Despite these hurdles, the acquisition by SoftBank represents a vote of confidence in Graphcore's technology and team. CEO Nigel Toon hailed the deal as a "tremendous endorsement" of Graphcore's capabilities. Toon also confirmed that he was not expecting any losses in headcount, but quite the opposite, at least in the UK. Graphcore will continue to operate under its name as a SoftBank subsidiary, keeping its offices in Bristol, Cambridge, London, Gdansk, and Hsinchu.
