SoftBank Group Buys British AI Chip Company Graphcore

By Kosaku Narioka

SoftBank Group has acquired U.K. semiconductor company Graphcore, the latest in a series of steps taken by the Japanese tech investment company in the artificial-intelligence field.

The Bristol-based chip company, which specializes in AI, said that it is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of SoftBank Group and will continue to operate under the Graphcore name.

Graphcore's co-founder and chief executive, Nigel Toon said that demand for AI computing is vast and continues to grow. "In SoftBank, we have a partner that can enable the Graphcore team to redefine the landscape for AI technology," he said.

Vikas J. Parekh, managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said that next-generation semiconductors and computing systems are essential in the journey toward artificial general intelligence, or human-like, general-purpose intelligence. "[W]e're pleased to collaborate with Graphcore in this mission," he said.

The Japanese tech investment company recently led a $1.05 billion funding for self-driving car startup Wayve Technologies as the London-based company accelerates the development of AI-based products for carmakers.

SoftBank Group's domestic telecom unit said in June that it planned to build a large-scale data center for AI applications in Osaka, aiming to start full-scale operations in 2025.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 11, 2024 21:45 ET (01:45 GMT)

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