Graphcore will operate under the same name and become a SoftBank subsidiary as part of the deal, which could reverse fortunes for the troubled company.
Japanese investment firm SoftBank has acquired UK-based Graphcore, as it moves into the AI chip market dominated by Nvidia.
There have been rumours about the deal for months, but Graphcore confirmed the deal in a blogpost yesterday (11 July). As part of the deal, Graphcore will operate under its name as a subsidiary of SoftBank.
There have been reports that the deal was worth between $500m and $600m, less than the $700m that Graphcore is said to have raised in funding according to The Register.
The financial details of the deal have not been shared, but in a press briefing, Graphcore co-founder and CEO Nigel Toon said the $500m figure was inaccurate, TechCrunch reports.
“This is a tremendous endorsement of our team and their ability to build truly transformative AI technologies at scale, as well as a great outcome for our company,” Toon said. “Demand for AI compute is vast and continues to grow. There remains much to do to improve efficiency, resilience and computational power to unlock the full potential of AI.
In SoftBank, we have a partner that can enable the Graphcore team to redefine the landscape for AI technology.”
Graphcore has drawn positive attention over the years, being valued at $1.7bn in 2018 after it raised $200m. This was followed by a $150m fundraise in 2020. It attracted investments from many of the biggest names in machine intelligence, including members of DeepMind and OpenAI.
But the company began to struggle in 2022 and reported a significant drop in revenue, suffering job losses as a result.
SoftBank, meanwhile, has been taking a greater interest in AI recently. Last month, it was reported that SoftBank was set to invest between $10m and $20m into AI start-up Perplexity, an investment the firm has yet to confirm.
Vikas J Parekh, managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said society is “embracing the opportunities” offered by foundation models and generative AI applications.
“Next generation semiconductors and compute systems are essential in the AGI journey, we’re pleased to collaborate with Graphcore in this mission.”
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