- NVIDIA will continue Arm’s open-licensing model and customer neutrality
- Arm’s IP licensing portfolio to be expanded with NVIDIA technology
- NVIDIA will set up an AI research and education centre at Arm's headquarters in the UK
- An Arm/NVIDIA-powered AI supercomputer is being built groundbreaking research
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| Source: NVIDIA blog post. A picture of Cambridge. |
NVIDIA and SoftBank Group (SBG) have announced a definitive agreement under which NVIDIA will acquire Arm from SBG and the SoftBank Vision Fund (together, SoftBank) in a transaction valued at US$40 billion.
Under the terms of the transaction, which has been approved by the boards of directors of NVIDIA, SBG and Arm, NVIDIA will pay to SoftBank a total of US$21.5 billion in NVIDIA common stock and US$12 billion in cash, which includes US$2 billion payable at signing. The transaction does not include Arm’s IoT Services Group. IoT stands for the Internet of Things.
The combination brings together NVIDIA’s AI computing platform with Arm’s ecosystem to create a premier computing company for the age of artificial intelligence. SoftBank will remain committed to Arm’s long-term success through its ownership stake in NVIDIA, expected to be under 10%.
“AI is the most powerful technology force of our time and has launched a new wave of computing,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA.
“In the years ahead, trillions of computers running AI will create a new Internet-of-things that is thousands of times larger than today’s Internet-of-people. Our combination will create a company fabulously positioned for the age of AI.
“Simon Segars and his team at Arm have built an extraordinary company that is contributing to nearly every technology market in the world. Uniting NVIDIA’s AI computing capabilities with the vast ecosystem of Arm’s CPU*, we can advance computing from the cloud, smartphones, PCs, self-driving cars and robotics, to edge IoT, and expand AI computing to every corner of the globe.
“This combination has tremendous benefits for both companies, our customers, and the industry. For Arm’s ecosystem, the combination will turbocharge Arm’s R&D capacity and expand its IP* portfolio with NVIDIA’s world-leading GPU and AI technology.
“Arm will remain headquartered in Cambridge. We will expand on this great site and build a world-class AI research facility, supporting developments in healthcare, life sciences, robotics, self-driving cars and other fields. And, to attract researchers and scientists from the UK and around the world to conduct groundbreaking work, NVIDIA will build a state-of-the-art AI supercomputer, powered by Arm CPUs. Arm Cambridge will be a world-class technology centre.”
“NVIDIA is the perfect partner for Arm,” said Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SBG. “Since acquiring Arm, we have honoured our commitments and invested heavily in people, technology and R&D, thereby expanding the business into new areas with high growth potential. Joining forces with a world leader in technology innovation creates new and exciting opportunities for Arm. This is a compelling combination that projects Arm, Cambridge and the UK to the forefront of some of the most exciting technological innovations of our time and is why SoftBank is excited to invest in Arm’s long-term success as a major shareholder in NVIDIA. We look forward to supporting the continued success of the combined business.”
“Arm and NVIDIA share a vision and passion that ubiquitous, energy-efficient computing will help address the world’s most pressing issues from climate change to healthcare, from agriculture to education,” said Simon Segars, CEO of Arm.
“Delivering on this vision requires new approaches to hardware and software and a long-term commitment to research and development. By bringing together the technical strengths of our two companies we can accelerate our progress and create new solutions that will enable a global ecosystem of innovators. My management team and I are excited to be joining NVIDIA so we can write this next chapter together.”
Huang calls "the most popular CPU in the world". As part of NVIDIA, Arm will continue to operate its open-licensing model while maintaining the global customer neutrality that has been foundational to its success, with 180 billion chips shipped to date by its licensees. Some 22 billion Arm chips were shipped last year alone.
Arm partners will also benefit from both companies’ offerings. SoftBank and Arm are fully committed to satisfying the undertakings made by SoftBank when it acquired Arm in 2016, which are scheduled to complete in September 2021.
Following the closing of the transaction, NVIDIA intends to retain the name and brand identity of Arm and expand its base in Cambridge. Arm’s intellectual property will remain registered in the UK. NVIDIA will build on Arm’s R&D presence in the UK, establishing a new global centre of excellence in AI research at Arm’s Cambridge campus.
NVIDIA will also invest in a state-of-the-art, Arm-powered AI supercomputer to be housed at the centre of excellence, as well as training facilities for developers and a startup incubator, which is anticipated to attract world-class research talent and create a platform for innovation and industry partnerships in fields such as healthcare, robotics and self-driving cars.
In a letter to NVIDIA employees, Huang said: "Uniting NVIDIA’s AI computing with the vast reach of Arm’s CPU, we will engage the giant AI opportunity ahead and advance computing from the cloud, smartphones, PCs, self-driving cars, robotics, 5G, and IoT.
"NVIDIA will bring our world-leading AI technology to Arm’s ecosystem while expanding NVIDIA’s developer reach from 2 million to more than 15 million software programmers.
"Our R&D scale will turbocharge Arm’s roadmap pace and accelerates data centre, edge AI, and IoT opportunities.
"Arm’s business model is brilliant. We will maintain its open-licensing model and customer neutrality, serving customers in any industry, across the world, and further expand Arm’s IP licensing portfolio with NVIDIA’s world-leading GPU and AI technology."
The proposed transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals for the UK, China, the EU and the US. Completion of the transaction is expected to take place in approximately 18 months.
*CPU stands for central processing unit, as opposed to NVIDIA's specialisation in graphics processing units (GPUs). IP refers to intellectual property.
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