UK-Based Arm, Leading Smartphone Chip Designer, Sets Sights On Launching AI Chips By Next Year

UK-based Arm Holdings, a key player in the global chip market, is reportedly planning to expand into the development of AI chips.

Arm, which is a subsidiary of Japanese SoftBank Group, designs chip architecture primarily for consumer electronics, licensing its technology to semiconductor giants such as Qualcomm and Nvidia.

The company claims its technology powers 99 per cent of premium smartphones on the market.

SoftBank Group holds a 90 per cent stake in Arm.

According to a Nikkei Asia report, the move towards AI chips aligns with SoftBank’s ambition to become a significant force in artificial intelligence.

Arm will establish an AI chip division and aims to build a prototype by spring 2025.

Mass production, expected to start in autumn 2025, will be handled by contract manufacturers, Nikkei Asia reported.

Initial development costs, which may total hundreds of billions of yen, will be funded by Arm with contributions from SoftBank, the report stated.

Once a mass-production system is established, the AI chip business could be spun off and placed under SoftBank.

The report also mentioned that SoftBank is negotiating with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC) and others to secure production capacity.

The British chip designer's focus on AI chips comes as market for such chips is expected to see accelerated growth.

Estimated at $30 billion this year, the market is expected to exceed $100 billion in 2029 and top $200 billion in 2032, according to Precedence Research of Canada.

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