ikjadoon
Member
- Sep 4, 2006
- 182
- 382
- 146
Well I wasn't expecting that to happen....
Troubled AI Processor Developer Graphcore Finds a Buyer: SoftBank
www.anandtech.com
Not sure exactly what gain this could bring for ARM beyond a more complete silicon IP for AI/ML to augment their Ethos NPUs.
There were a few rumors, but one never know how these things might end up:
SoftBank closer to buying Graphcore, say reports
Talks between SoftBank Group and AI chipmaker Graphcore over a potential acquisition of the latter have moved forward.
www.eenewseurope.com
Officially, Arm is hinting they're looking at NPUs again more seriously, but it's been pretty light on info. Underline is mine.
PCWorld: You mentioned an NPU before. But you don’t build an NPU, at least not in the CSS architecture. Did I miss something?
Arm CEO: "There isn’t an NPU today on the PC side. We have NPUs today on what I would call the entry-embedded line. But yeah, we haven’t gone public with our NPUs for the high end."
//
PCWorld: And you’re going to have an NPU for these high-end processors. You just haven’t come to market yet.
Arm CEO: "You can extrapolate that."
//
There are too many rumors these days to consider, but this one is tangentially related while quickly veering into wild (nuclear fusion...?):
The UK-based Arm will create a specialized division dedicated to AI chips, with the goal of having a prototype ready by spring 2025. Following the prototype processor in spring 2025, mass production of Arm's processors is anticipated to commence in the fall of 2025 at a contract maker of chips, such as TSMC, Samsung Foundry, or Intel.
SoftBank intends to build datacenters using its own processors across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East by 2026. Due to the substantial power requirements of datacenters, the company will reportedly also expand into power generation. Plans include the development of wind and solar power facilities, with an eye on pioneering next-generation fusion technology, Nikkei claims.
//
Phoronix has some Graviton4 (Neoverse V2 / Cortex-X3) benches up: