Arm's Strategic Shift: Launching In-House Chip with Meta as First Customer

Meta becomes the first customer of Arm's new custom chips - Softonic

ARM plans to transition to semiconductor manufacturing, launching its first chip this summer, with Meta as its inaugural customer, marking the beginning of a new competitive era ARM, one of the most important companies in the field of processors for smartphones, is considering a significant evolution in its business model. The company, known for designing the architecture and cores of the processors that power both Android and iPhone smartphones, plans to expand into semiconductor manufacturing, with the launch of its first chip scheduled for this summer. This step marks a new era for ARM, especially with the news that Meta will be the first customer to use these new semiconductors in its data centers. This collaboration not only underscores the growing importance of artificial intelligence, but also puts ARM in a competitive position against giants like Qualcomm, which is currently in a legal dispute with the British firm. The new chip, which will be aimed at servers and will be customizable, will allow companies like Meta to adapt the hardware to their specific needs. This may lead to tensions in the relationship between ARM and some of its main clients, as the company seems to intend not only to design but also to manufacture and market its own chips. The production of the ARM chip will be carried out in collaboration with TSMC, a renowned Taiwanese manufacturer, highlighting the importance of partnerships in the supply chain. In addition, SoftBank's ambitious $500 billion plan, which includes OpenAI and aims to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure, could pave the way for broader implementations of these new chips in other devices. On the horizon, ARM could also venture into creating chips for a niche still in development: AI-powered personal devices, which adds a level of uncertainty and expectation to its upcoming launch.

Arm secures Meta as first customer for ambitious new chip project

Matthew Garrahan and Tim Bradshaw in London, David Keohane in Tokyo Arm plans to launch its own chip this year after securing Meta as one of its first customers, in a radical change to the SoftBank-owned group's business model of licensing its blueprints to the likes of Apple and Nvidia. Rene Haas, Arm chief executive, will unveil the first chip that it has made in-house as early as this summer, according to people familiar with the UK-based group's plans. The move from designing the basic building blocks of a chip to making its own complete processor could also upend the balance of power in the $700bn semiconductor industry, putting Arm into competition with some of its biggest customers. SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has put Arm at the centre of his plans to build a vast infrastructure network for artificial intelligence. The launch of Arm's own chip is considered just one step in his larger plans to move into AI chip production, say people familiar with the plans. Last month, Son unveiled his Stargate initiative, in which he and OpenAI plan to spend a purported $500bn building AI infrastructure, with Abu Dhabi state fund MGX and Oracle also providing funding for the US-based project. Arm is a key technology partner for Stargate, along with Microsoft and Nvidia. Arm's chip is expected to be a central processing unit (CPU) for servers in large data centres and is built on a base which can then be customised for clients including Meta, according to those familiar with the plans. Production will be outsourced to a manufacturer such as TSMC, these people said. SoftBank is also closing in on the acquisition of Ampere, an Oracle-backed chip designer of Arm-based chips for servers that could be valued at close to $6.5bn. That deal is central to Arm's own chipmaking project, people familiar with the plans said. Cambridge-headquartered Arm has more than doubled in value to $160bn since it listed on the Nasdaq in 2023, carried higher by explosive investor interest in AI. Arm's partnerships with Nvidia and Amazon have driven its rapid growth in the data centres that power AI assistants from OpenAI, Meta and Anthropic. Meta is the latest Big Tech company to turn to Arm for server chips, displacing those traditionally provided by Intel and AMD. During last month's earnings call, Meta's finance chief Susan Li said it would be "extending our custom silicon efforts to [AI] training workloads" to drive greater efficiency and performance by tuning its chips to its particular computing needs. Meanwhile, an Arm-produced chip is also likely to eventually play a role in Sir Jony Ive's secretive plans to build a new kind of AI-powered personal device, which is a collaboration between the iPhone designer's firm LoveFrom, OpenAI's Sam Altman and SoftBank. Arm's designs have been used in more than 300bn chips, including almost all of the world's smartphones. Its power-efficient designs have made its CPUs, the general-purpose workhorse that sits at the heart of any computer, an increasingly attractive alternative to Intel's chips in PCs and servers at a time when AI is making data centres much more energy intensive. Arm, which started out in a converted turkey barn in Cambridgeshire 35 years ago, became ubiquitous in the mobile market by licensing its designs to Apple for its iPhone chips, as well as Android suppliers such as Qualcomm and MediaTek. Maintaining its unique position in the centre of the fiercely competitive mobile market has required a careful balancing act for Arm. But Son has long pushed for Arm to make more money from its intellectual property. Under Haas, who became CEO in 2022, Arm's business model began to evolve, with a focus on driving higher royalties from customers as the company designs more of the building blocks needed to make a chip. Going a step further by building and selling its own complete chip is a bold move by Haas that risks putting it on a collision course with customers such as Qualcomm, which is already locked in a legal battle with Arm over licensing terms, and Nvidia, the world's most valuable chipmaker.

Arm looks to launch its own chip after landing Meta contract

Plan represents move away from SoftBank-owned group licensing its chip blueprints to firms such as Apple and Nvidia British semiconductor designer Arm is reportedly planning to launch its own chip this year, after landing Meta as one of its first customers. The move represents a major overhaul of the SoftBank-owned group's business model of licensing its chip blueprints to the likes of Apple and Nvidia. Rene Haas, Arm's chief executive, is set to unveil the first in-house chip as early as this summer, according to a report in the Financial Times citing people familiar with the plans. More than 300bn chips based on Arm designs have been shipped since the company was founded in 1990, with almost all the world's smartphones being based on Arm technology. Moving from designing chips to making its own complete processor could also put Arm into competition with some of its biggest customers in the £500bn semiconductor industry. Arm declined to comment. Shares in the company rose by more than 6% on Thursday after the Financial Times reported on the plans. The Financial Times also reported that the launch of Arm's own chip is one step in a larger plan by SoftBank's founder Masayoshi Son to make more money from its own intellectual property by moving into AI chip production and building a vast infrastructure network for artificial intelligence. Last month, Son unveiled his Stargate initiative with OpenAI, which will spend an estimated £400bn building AI infrastructure, with Abu Dhabi state fund MGX and Oracle also providing funding, and Arm as a key technology partner alongside Microsoft and Nvidia. Arm's chip is expected to be a central processing unit (CPU) for servers in large datacentres and customisable for clients including Meta, according to those familiar with the plans. Production will be outsourced to a manufacturer such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, these people said. Another deal integral to Arm's chipmaking project is Softbank's expected acquisition of Ampere, an Oracle-backed chip designer of Arm-based chips for servers that could be valued at close to $6.5bn (£5.15bn). Cambridge-headquartered Arm has more than doubled in value to $173bn since it listed on the Nasdaq in 2023, buoyed by investor interest in AI. Arm had previously been listed in London, before Softbank took it over in 2016. Meta is the latest big tech company to turn to Arm for its power-efficient server chips instead of Intel and AMD, while Arm's partnerships with Nvidia and Amazon have driven its rapid growth in the datacentres that power AI assistants from OpenAI, Meta and Anthropic.

Arm to start making server CPUs in-house

Arm plans to launch its own chip this year after securing Meta as one of its first customers, in a radical change to the SoftBank-owned group's business model of licensing its blueprints to the likes of Apple and Nvidia. Rene Haas, Arm's chief executive, will unveil the first chip that it has made in-house as early as this summer, according to people familiar with the UK-based group's plans. The move from designing the basic building blocks of a chip to making its own complete processor could also upend the balance of power in the $700 billion semiconductor industry, putting Arm into competition with some of its biggest customers. Arm shares jumped more than 6 percent after the Financial Times reported on the group's plans. SoftBank's founder Masayoshi Son has put Arm at the center of his plans to build a vast infrastructure network for artificial intelligence. The launch of Arm's own chip is considered just one step in his larger plans to move into AI chip production, say people familiar with the plans. Son last month unveiled his Stargate initiative, in which he and OpenAI plan to spend a purported $500 billion building AI infrastructure, with Abu Dhabi state fund MGX and Oracle also providing funding for the US-based project. Arm is a key technology partner for Stargate, along with Microsoft and Nvidia. Arm's chip is expected to be a central processing unit (CPU) for servers in large data centers and is built on a base that can then be customised for clients including Meta, according to those familiar with the plans. Production will be outsourced to a manufacturer such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, these people said. SoftBank is also closing in on the acquisition of Ampere, an Oracle-backed chip designer of Arm-based chips for servers that could be valued at close to $6.5 billion. That deal is central to Arm's own chipmaking project, people familiar with the plans said.

Arm is making its first chip -- with Meta already waiting in line

The British chip designer could launch its first in-house chip by the summer, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Producing its own chip would be a massive change to Arm's business of licensing its chip designs to companies such as Nvidia (NVDA+3.15%) and Apple (AAPL+1.94%). Masayoshi Son, the founder of Arm's majority owner, SoftBank Group, reportedly wants Arm to move into chip production as part of a larger plan for artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to the Financial Times. The Arm chip will be a central processing unit, or CPU, for large data center servers, and will be customizable for Meta and other customers, people told the Financial Times. This could put Arm in competition with Intel (INTC+8.25%) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD-0.37%), which produce most of the server chips for Big Tech companies. In May, Nikkei Asia reported that Arm is putting together an AI chip unit, with plans to launch a prototype by spring of this year, and mass produce chips by the fall. Arm declined to comment. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Son involved in the half-a-trillion-dollar U.S. AI infrastructure plan, Stargate, alongside OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and Oracle (ORCL+0.96%) chief technology officer Larry Ellison. SoftBank and OpenAI are co-leading the project, with SoftBank taking financial responsibility and OpenAI overseeing operations. Son will be Stargate's chairman. The new venture "intends to invest $500 billion over the next four years building new AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States," the AI startup said in a statement. Stargate is starting with an initial $100 billion investment, counting OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and Abu Dhabi-based AI investor MGX as initial equity funders.

Report: Arm to build its very own chips, and Meta is first in line to buy them - SiliconANGLE

Report: Arm to build its very own chips, and Meta is first in line to buy them The U.K.-headquartered chip design company Arm Holdings Plc. is reportedly planning to launch its first-ever complete semiconductor after securing Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms Inc. as one of its first customers. In an exclusive report today, the Financial Times suggests that Arm is looking to build its own hardware for the first time, in a move that will bring it into direct competition with many of its customers. The company is an ubiquitous name in the chipmaking world, but it has never made its own chips. Instead, it licenses a key technology called an "instruction set", which is like a blueprint for building powerful and energy-efficient chips. More recently though, the company has begun selling more complicated core designs that customers can customize more easily. Arm's unique status in the chipmaking industry has helped it to earn a nickname as the "Switzerland" of chip technology firms, as it has always been perceived as dealing with customers such as Apple Inc., Nvidia Corp., Qualcomm Inc., Intel Corp., Amazon Web Services Inc. and Microsoft Corp. neutrally, never favoring any particular company. But that could change, as the massive amounts of money being spent on artificial intelligence chips prove too tempting for the company to ignore. Meta alone has said it's planning to spend up to $65 billion on AI infrastructure this year, and while much of that money will be spent on Nvidia's graphics processing units, it will also buy plenty of others, including central processing units from the likes of Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. It's also thought to be working on its own chip designs. The Financial Times says Arm is looking to design a CPU for servers, rather than compete with Nvidia and AMD in the GPU market. Nvidia tried to acquire Arm from its owner SoftBank Group Corp. in 2020 for $40 billion, but the deal was blocked due to regulator's concerns over Arm's key role in the chip market. Arm responded by instead going public, and its market capitalization has since grown to over $173 billion. SoftBank remains its biggest shareholder. This year already, Arm's stock has increased 29%, as it's increasingly seen as a key enabler of AI systems. The company's executive team has told investors that it's looking to sell more advanced technology to customers, as part of a plan to expand its revenue streams. The move to build its very own chips is not really so surprising, as SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has made Arm the centerpiece of his plans to create a vast infrastructure network for AI. Last month, Son appeared at the White House alongside U.S. President Donald Trump, OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman and Oracle Corp. founder and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison, where they unveiled the Project Stargate initiative, which plans to invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure. SoftBank and Abu Dhabi state fund MGX will provide much of the funding, and Arm was also revealed as a technology partner for that initiative. Another clue came from Arm CEO Rene Haas (pictured) during the company's latest financial earnings call earlier this month, when he cited the spending plans of Meta, Google (which will invest $75 billion on AI infrastructure) and Microsoft (which will spend $80 billion) as a big opportunity for the company. "No one is pulling back," Haas pointed out, referring to how those giants are doubling down on their AI spending amid the rise of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek Ltd. Moreover, SoftBank is currently trying to acquire another chipmaker, Ampere LLC, which is heavily backed by Oracle and makes CPUs for data center servers. According to the Financial Times, that deal is critical to Arm's plans to build its own chips. While the profits from selling its own chips could be extremely lucrative, Arm also risks alienating some of its major customers if it goes ahead with this move, said analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group. "Competing with your licensees is a good way to lose those licensees if you're not careful, and this does represent a risk to those customers who license Arm technology," the analyst said. "It means they'll be competing with Arm itself while also using its technology, but of course, Arm will have a significant advantage as it owns that technology." The decision could well be a calculated move for Arm though, as the AI industry is lucrative enough that it may be able to gain enough direct sales to offset any licensing revenue it loses, Enderle added. "There is always a risk when you license something, as the one who owns the license may eventually decide it wants your revenue and profit, and there is little recourse to such customers if it does decide to move in on their turf," he said. Even so, Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. said the move appears to be a risky gamble for the company, as any switch from operating purely on licensing revenue would dilute the company's profit margins. "This will expose Arm to supply and production issues and greater stock volatility due to the roller-coaster nature of chip market sales, and it will upset its existing customers," Mueller said. "It's surprising, but in any case Arm's management is aware of all of this, so it must be able to see an upside." The Financial Times suggests Arm may announce its plans by the summer or possibly even earlier, but the company itself refused to comment on the report. However, it's certainly clear which direction the industry is headed. Four days ago, Reuters reported that OpenAI is looking to develop its own chips to reduce its reliance on Nvidia's GPUs. It's said to be in the advanced design stage already, with the next step likely to involve transferring that design to the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. for experimental production and testing. Meanwhile, Forbes reported this week that Meta is looking to acquire the South Korean AI chip startup FuriosaAI Inc. as part of its own plan to develop an alternative to Nvidia's GPUs. That deal could close as early as this month, the report suggested. Of course, the cloud infrastructure giants AWS, Google and Microsoft have all developed their own AI accelerators, which they offer to cloud customers as an alternative to Nvidia's hardware.

Arm is reportedly developing its own in-house chip

The new CPU could be a piece in the $500 billion Stargate AI project. Chip designer Arm plans to unveil its own processor this year with Meta as the launch customer, The Financial Times reported. The chip would be a CPU designed for servers in data centers and would have the potential to be customized for clients. Manufacturing would be outsourced to a contract fab plant like TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.) and the first in-house chip could be revealed as early as this summer, according to the FT's sources. Last month, Arm parent Softbank announced the Stargate project, a partnership with OpenAI to build up to $500 billion worth of AI infrastructure. Arm, along with Microsoft and NVIDIA, is a key technology partner for the project. Arm's chip could now play a role in that project, and also in Jony Ive's mysterious AI-powered personal device, reportedly being developed in collaboration with OpenAI's Sam Altman, according to the report. Arm's designs power nearly every smartphone and mobile device in the world, along with Apple Mac and Qualcomm-powered Windows PCs. They generally use less power for the same level of compute as Intel and AMD chips, so they've become desirable for data farms that power AI applications as well. The move would put Arm in direct competition with many of its own customers like NVIDIA, which manufacturers its own Arm-based server CPUs. To date, Arm has never made its own chips -- instead, it licenses its technology and patents to major companies like Apple. Those companies then customize the designs for their own needs and use a contract manufacturer like TSMC or Samsung to build the chips. UK-based Arm is currently embroiled in a testy legal battle with Qualcomm over licensing terms. Meanwhile, parent SoftBank is reportedly close to purchasing Ampere, a server chip designer. That deal will be "central to Arm's own chipmaking project," according to FT's inside sources.

Report: Arm to build its own chips, and Meta is first in line to buy them - SiliconANGLE

Report: Arm to build its own chips, and Meta is first in line to buy them The U.K.-headquartered chip design company Arm Holdings Plc. is reportedly planning to launch its first-ever complete semiconductor after securing Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms Inc. as one of its first customers. In an exclusive report today, the Financial Times suggests that Arm is looking to build its own hardware for the first time, in a move that will bring it into direct competition with many of its customers. The company is an ubiquitous name in the chipmaking world, but it has never made its own chips. Instead, it licenses a key technology called an "instruction set", which is like a blueprint for building powerful and energy-efficient chips. More recently though, the company has begun selling more complicated core designs that customers can customize more easily. Arm's unique status in the chipmaking industry has helped it to earn a nickname as the "Switzerland" of chip technology firms, as it has always been perceived as dealing with customers such as Apple Inc., Nvidia Corp., Qualcomm Inc., Intel Corp., Amazon Web Services Inc. and Microsoft Corp. neutrally, never favoring any particular company. But that could change, as the massive amounts of money being spent on artificial intelligence chips prove too tempting for the company to ignore. Meta alone has said it's planning to spend up to $65 billion on AI infrastructure this year, and while much of that money will be spent on Nvidia's graphics processing units, it will also buy plenty of others, including central processing units from the likes of Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. It's also thought to be working on its own chip designs. The Financial Times says Arm is looking to design a CPU for servers, rather than compete with Nvidia and AMD in the GPU market. Nvidia tried to acquire Arm from its owner SoftBank Group Corp. in 2020 for $40 billion, but the deal was blocked due to regulator's concerns over Arm's key role in the chip market. Arm responded by instead going public, and its market capitalization has since grown to over $173 billion. SoftBank remains its biggest shareholder. This year already, Arm's stock has increased 29%, as it's increasingly seen as a key enabler of AI systems. The company's executive team has told investors that it's looking to sell more advanced technology to customers, as part of a plan to expand its revenue streams. The move to build its very own chips is not really so surprising, as SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has made Arm the centerpiece of his plans to create a vast infrastructure network for AI. Last month, Son appeared at the White House alongside U.S. President Donald Trump, OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman and Oracle Corp. founder and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison, where they unveiled the Project Stargate initiative, which plans to invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure. SoftBank and Abu Dhabi state fund MGX will provide much of the funding, and Arm was also revealed as a technology partner for that initiative. Another clue came from Arm CEO Rene Haas (pictured) during the company's latest financial earnings call earlier this month, when he cited the spending plans of Meta, Google (which will invest $75 billion on AI infrastructure) and Microsoft (which will spend $80 billion) as a big opportunity for the company. "No one is pulling back," Haas pointed out, referring to how those giants are doubling down on their AI spending amid the rise of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek Ltd. Moreover, SoftBank is currently trying to acquire another chipmaker, Ampere LLC, which is heavily backed by Oracle and makes CPUs for data center servers. According to the Financial Times, that deal is critical to Arm's plans to build its own chips. While the profits from selling its own chips could be extremely lucrative, Arm also risks alienating some of its major customers if it goes ahead with this move, said analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group. "Competing with your licensees is a good way to lose those licensees if you're not careful, and this does represent a risk to those customers who license Arm technology," the analyst said. "It means they'll be competing with Arm itself while also using its technology, but of course, Arm will have a significant advantage as it owns that technology." The decision could well be a calculated move for Arm though, as the AI industry is lucrative enough that it may be able to gain enough direct sales to offset any licensing revenue it loses, Enderle added. "There is always a risk when you license something, as the one who owns the license may eventually decide it wants your revenue and profit, and there is little recourse to such customers if it does decide to move in on their turf," he said. Even so, Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. said the move appears to be a risky gamble for the company, as any switch from operating purely on licensing revenue would dilute the company's profit margins. "This will expose Arm to supply and production issues and greater stock volatility due to the roller-coaster nature of chip market sales, and it will upset its existing customers," Mueller said. "It's surprising, but in any case Arm's management is aware of all of this, so it must be able to see an upside." The Financial Times suggests Arm may announce its plans by the summer or possibly even earlier, but the company itself refused to comment on the report. However, it's certainly clear which direction the industry is headed. Four days ago, Reuters reported that OpenAI is looking to develop its own chips to reduce its reliance on Nvidia's GPUs. It's said to be in the advanced design stage already, with the next step likely to involve transferring that design to the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. for experimental production and testing. Meanwhile, Forbes reported this week that Meta is looking to acquire the South Korean AI chip startup FuriosaAI Inc. as part of its own plan to develop an alternative to Nvidia's GPUs. That deal could close as early as this month, the report suggested. Of course, the cloud infrastructure giants AWS, Google and Microsoft have all developed their own AI accelerators, which they offer to cloud customers as an alternative to Nvidia's hardware.

Report: Chip Designer Arm Plans to Become Chip Manufacturer | PYMNTS.com

Arm, which has traditionally designed chips and licensed those designs to companies like Apple and Nvidia, plans to introduce the first chip it made in-house as soon as this summer, the Financial Times (FT) reported Thursday (Feb. 13). One of the SoftBank-owned company's first customers for its new chip is Meta, according to the report. Reached by PYMNTS, Arm declined to comment on the report. Meta did not immediately reply to PYMNTS' request for comment. By building and selling its own complete chip, Arm could become a competitor of some of its biggest customers, the FT report said. SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son aims to build an infrastructure network for artificial intelligence (AI), and Arm is at the center of those plans, according to the report. Arm is a key technology partner of Stargate, the AI infrastructure initiative led by SoftBank and OpenAI, the report said. Arm's new chip is expected to be a central processing unit (CPU) for use in data centers, to be customizable for clients, and to be manufactured by a company to which Arm will outsource the work, per the report. When asked by PYMNTS in January about rumors that Arm is interested in becoming a chip manufacturer, Arm Chief Commercial Officer Will Abbey declined to comment. Reuters reported in May that the company planned to develop its own AI chips in 2025, with a prototype ready by spring. As a chip designer, Arm has a near-total monopoly in mobile devices and is eyeing opportunities in AI. Abbey told PYMNTS in January that Arm sees its power-efficient design as a competitive advantage, especially since AI is an infamous power guzzler. Arm uses a CPU architecture that is different from and not compatible with the x86 architecture used by most of the world's computers, servers and data centers, PYMNTS reported in January. Arm's CPU architecture is simpler, customizable and energy efficient, enabling it to garner a 99% market share in mobile devices because it's better for battery-powered gadgets. In contrast, x86 is meant for higher-performance computing. Several tech giants have adopted custom Arm-based chips.

Arm plans to sell its own chips in an effort to ramp up revenues

The chip designer, Arm, is reportedly competing with its own clients, which include major companies such as Qualcomm, to sell its own chips as it seeks to boost profits. British semiconductor giant Arm Holdings plc is planning to manufacture its own chips in 2025, according to the Financial Times and has started competing against its own clients for deals. This move is part of a wider strategy aimed at increasing the company's revenues and profits. The company's shares soared on the news by more than 6% on Friday morning. Arm has already secured Meta Platforms Inc. as one of its first clients. This is a marked change from what Arm currently does, which is providing the key intellectual property, such as blueprints, which companies like Nvidia and Apple then licence. This allows them to make their own central processing units (CPUs). As reported by Reuters, Arm is seeking to poach executives from some of its current clients to assist with its "transformation from solely designing processor architecture (IP) to also selling its own silicon, with a focus on driving AI enablement in the data centre." Arm's first chip is expected to be revealed as early as summer 2025, according to those familiar with the matter. The company is currently owned by Japanese investment holding company SoftBank Group. It licences and designs processor IP for a variety of products such as cars, smartphones and data centres. It also works on innovating architecture, while offering development tools and enabling machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) on a range of products. Arm Holdings has declined to comment. How could Arm's new move disrupt the semiconductor industry? Arm potentially launching its own chips could likely shake up the semiconductor industry, by making it a major competitor to other key players, when it comes to important data centre and artificial intelligence deals. Since Arm has mainly been seen as a neutral company so far, this move could also compel other companies, especially its clients, to reconsider their strategies in order to not lose out on deals. Currently, Arm is rivaling Qualcomm to provide data centre CPUs to Meta. Back in 2022, Arm also sued Qualcomm, claiming that the latter's acquisition of the startup Nuvia went against Arm's technology licence agreement terms. Under these circumstances, Arm believed that Qualcomm should have tried to negotiate a new contract. However, Arm subsequently lost this legal battle. Arm is also one of the key technology partners of The Stargate Project, along with Nvidia, Microsoft, OpenAI and Oracle. The Stargate Project aims to build the US's AI infrastructure to further cement the country's leadership in the sector. Another of Arm's clients, and potential competitor, Nvidia, has recently been rattled by the Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek launching its latest model, which was built relatively cheaply. This has led to increased concerns about the future outlook for Nvidia and other similar AI companies. Since Nvidia is a major Arm Holdings client at the moment, this could also impact Arm.

Arm reportedly plans to make its own CPUs from this summer with future chips said to be powering a revolutionary Jony Ive-designed AI device

Is Arm planning to make its own chips and not just sell rights to its IP and CPU designs to other companies? So says the FT in what would be a hugely disruptive development, if true. In fact, the FT claims Arm could unveil its first in-house processor as early as this summer with future chips powering a revolutionary AI strategy -- including a new Jony Ive-design personal device. The first chip is said to be a server CPU, so it won't be going into your next gaming PC. But it's still very big news with all kinds of implications. The FT says the move is part of a broader plan by Arm's Japanese owner Softbank to move heavily into, yup you guessed it, AI, with a planned $500 billion to be spent on infrastructure in partnership with OpenAI. That initial in-house Arm chip is actually said to be a server CPU that can be customized for clients, the most notable of which is claimed to be Meta. It's not clear how that chip, which does not appear to be overtly AI-aligned, fits in with Softbank's broader strategy for Arm. That said, the FT mentions how Arm's move could be part of plans by former Apple designer Jony Ive in partnership with OpenAI and Softbank to create a new AI-powered personal device with a revolutionary, highly intuitive interface. Back on the humble old dumb PC, Arm moving into making its own chips will surely only serve to accelerate the long-mooted annexation of the PC, with Intel and AMD's x86 processors eventually usurped by Arm chips. That's been predicted for decades and yet never actually materialised. However, Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chips have been the most plausible possible usurpers, yet. Meanwhile, Nvidia, which tried and failed to buy Arm recently, is also said to be planning a new PC chip of its own based on Arm IP. It's worth noting that Arm currently licenses both its instruction set and actual CPU designs. But it doesn't actually commission the production of any chips itself. What's more, it's not clear what the implications might be with its ongoing fight with Qualcomm. During court fisticuffs with Qualcomm late last year, Arm pointed out that it has never built chips itself. However, it also said it is also always considering new strategies for the future. Anyway, this is ultimately a case of wait and see. Will Arm do its own chips? Will they eventually go into PCs? Could Arm become a major player in AI? Could your smartphone be replaced by a whole new device paradigm powered by an Arm-made AI chip? Honestly, who knows!

Arm shares rise on report that Meta will buy its first chip

Outside view of the newly completed Meta's Facebook data center in Eagle Mountain, Utah on July 18, 2024. Arm shares rose 5% after a Thursday report that it was developing its own chip and that it had secured Meta as one of its first customers. The Financial Times report indicates that Arm is developing a new product that will compete with many of its customers. The semiconductor company currently licenses its technology, called an instruction set, as well as more complicated core designs, to its customers so they can build their own chips. Arm has historically been known as the "Switzerland" of chip technology firms, a reputation it received by dealing neutrally with competing chipmakers. It counts Apple, Google, Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Intel as customers. Meta is spending as much as $65 billion this year on capital expenditures for artificial intelligence development. While much of its spending is on Nvidia-based systems, Meta has also purchased other chips, including AMD's competitor, and said it's developing its own chip internally. Arm's chip will be a central processor for servers, according to the report, not the kind of graphics processor typically used for the heaviest AI workloads. Nvidia tried to purchase Arm in 2020 from Softbank for $40 billion before it the deal was blocked by regulators over Arm's key role in the chip market. Arm went public in 2023 and now has a market cap over $173 billion. Arm shares have risen nearly 29% so far in 2025 as it's seen as a core enabler of AI systems. Company leadership has told investors that it's looking to sell more advanced technology to its existing customers to grow revenue. Rene Hass, Arm's CEO, cited billions of dollars in planned data center spending from Google for $75 billion, Microsoft for $80 billion and Meta for $60 billion as an opportunity for Arm earlier this month. "No one is pulling back," Hass said. "No one is pulling back," Hass said earlier this month on an earnings call. Arm is also a technology partner of the Stargate initiative, which plans to spend as much as $500 billion building AI infrastructure for OpenAI. Arm declined to comment, and Meta did not return a request for comment.

Arm said to be poaching executives from clients to build its own chips

Big if true: The rumors about Arm's ambitions to enter the chip manufacturing business appear to be true after all. Industry sources now claim the UK-based designer is in need of a highly skilled workforce and has begun poaching top talent from clients. Arm Holdings is currently on a recruiting spree, with the ultimate goal of entering the chip production industry independently. Reuters has quoted several sources familiar with the matter, all of whom confirm Arm's "sudden" interest in the manufacturing side of the microchip industry. Arm's core business revolves around licensing its namesake instruction set architecture to other silicon designers and chip foundries around the world. The company has been around since the 1980s, initially selling home computers with RISC processors under the Acorn Computers brand. Virtually all modern smartphones feature processors based on the Arm ISA, but Arm earns money through licensing deals, rather than from actual device sales. The UK-based designer is clearly trying to change the status quo. Two Reuters sources revealed that Arm has been reaching out to its licensing partners, attempting to recruit executives and potential employees from other positions to help build its new chipmaking business. The news agency was able to examine a copy of a "note" sent by an Arm recruiter to an executive at one of its customers. The note states that Arm wants to transform its licensing-only business model into a company that sells its own silicon products. The new chips would focus on "AI enablement in the data center" and other computing devices, according to the note. Arm has also reached out to other chip designers in Silicon Valley, seeking to hire new talent and experts in the area. Over the past few years, Arm has adopted a much more proactive approach to the chipmaking business. In 2022, the company sued Qualcomm to terminate their licensing agreement, but was later forced to abandon the effort. During the legal dispute over Qualcomm's licensing rates, Arm CEO Rene Haas stated that the company had never been involved in building chips. Sources say Arm began attempting to hire new managers from its customers as early as November. Haas' testimony occurred just a few weeks later. Regardless, Arm's attempt to start designing and selling its own chips could send a shockwave through the entire mobile industry. Historically, Arm Holdings has been considered a neutral player in the market, while silicon providers like Broadcom and Qualcomm have raked in billions by developing Arm-based custom CPUs. If Arm were to abandon its neutral stance, the chipmaking industry might react in unpredictable ways.

Arm Stock Rises As Meta Becomes First Customer For Its New In-House Chip - ARM Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM)

Arm Holdings ARM shares are moving higher after the company reportedly announced that Meta has become its first customer for a new in-house chip project. What To Know: According to Financial Times, this marks a major shift in Arm's business model, as it moves from licensing chip designs to producing its own processors, putting it in potential competition with major clients like Qualcomm and Nvidia. Arm plans to launch its first in-house chip by this summer, targeting large data centers. Production will be outsourced, likely to TSMC. The project aligns with SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son's broader AI infrastructure vision, including the $500 billion Stargate initiative with OpenAI and other partners. Arm is also reportedly close to acquiring Ampere, a chip designer backed by Oracle, for around $6.5 billion, which would further strengthen its move into chip production. The company has more than doubled in value since its 2023 Nasdaq listing, benefiting from surging AI-driven demand. Meta's decision to use Arm-based server chips signals a shift away from traditional suppliers like Intel and AMD. ARM Price Action: Arm Holdings shares were up 4.56% at $162.58 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga pro. Read Next: Robert F. Kennedy, Vaccine Skeptic, Confirmed As Trump's Secretary Of Health: Health Care Stocks To Watch Image Via Shutterstock. ARMARM Holdings PLC$162.364.47%Overview Rating:Speculative50%Technicals Analysis1000100Financials Analysis200100WatchlistOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Exclusive-Arm Recruits From Customers as It Plans to Sell Its Own Chips

(Reuters) - Arm has begun recruiting from its own customers and competing against them for deals as it pushes toward selling its own chips, according to people familiar with the matter and a document viewed by Reuters. Arm supplies the crucial intellectual property that firms such as Apple and Nvidia license to create their own central processing units (CPUs). It has also been seeking to expand its profits and revenues through a range of tactics, including considering whether to sell chips of its own. Arm appears to be ramping up that effort. The UK-based company has sought to recruit executives from licensees, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. And Arm is competing against Qualcomm, one of its largest customers, to sell data center CPUs to Meta Platforms, according to a person familiar with the matter. Arm spokesperson Erica Pompen declined to comment. The tech provider's moves to build out its own chip business could upend an industry that has long viewed the company as a neutral player rather than competitor, by forcing companies who rely on Arm technology to consider whether they will end up competing against the firm for business. Arm took a dispute with Qualcomm over its licensing rates to court in December, though the UK-based company lost key elements of that trial. During questioning at the trial, Arm CEO Rene Haas said, "we don't build chips" when asked about the company's ambitions outlined in a board proposal to do so. But Arm sought to hire executives from its customers as early as November, several weeks before that testimony, according to a document reviewed by Reuters. A recruiter working for Arm sent a message to an executive at an Arm customer seeking to hire employees. The note, a copy of which was viewed by Reuters, said Arm wanted to hire an executive to help with its "transformation from solely designing processor architecture (IP) to also selling its own silicon, with a focus on driving AI enablement in the data center" and on other devices. Arm recruiters have contacted other chip designers in Silicon Valley in an attempt to lure talent for the same purpose, according to two industry sources. Arm is also competing with Qualcomm for business. Qualcomm was in discussions with Facebook owner Meta Platforms to supply it with a data center central processing unit based on Arm's computing architecture, but Arm has won at least some of that business, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Financial Times earlier reported Arm's deal with Meta. Qualcomm spokesperson Yelena Tebcherani and Meta spokesperson Melanie Roe declined to comment. Arm may also be seeking to compete with Nvidia, according to a research note published Thursday from J.P. Morgan's Harlan Sur. Broadcom has won a contract for an effort by Arm and SoftBank Group to create a purpose-built artificial intelligence chip that will power data centers at the Japanese company, Sur wrote. The deal may be worth as much as $30 billion in revenue for Broadcom, Sur wrote. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis and Max Cherney in San Francisco; editing by Edward Tobin)

Arm Takes On Its Own Customers -- Poaches Talent, Competes With Qualcomm And Nvidia For AI And Data Center Chip Deals: Report - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), ARM Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM)

British chip designer Arm Holdings Plc ARM is reportedly entering the chip sales market, directly competing with its own clients, including Qualcomm Inc. QCOM and Nvidia Corporation NVDA, for AI and data center chip deals. What Happened: Arm, traditionally known for licensing its intellectual property to tech giants like Apple Inc. AAPL and Nvidia, is now looking to diversify its revenue streams by potentially selling its own chips. Arm has been actively hiring executives from its licensees to support this new venture, reported Reuters, citing two sources familiar with the matter. This strategic pivot could disrupt the industry, as Arm has traditionally been viewed as a neutral entity. The company's legal battle with Qualcomm over licensing rates, which Arm lost, underscores the growing tensions, the report noted. See Also: SoftBank-Backed Arm Plans Major Price Hike: Apple, Qualcomm Supplier Explores Chip Development Arm could also be positioning itself as a competitor to Nvidia, according to JP Morgan analyst Harlan Sur. In a research note published Thursday, Sur mentioned that Broadcom Inc. AVGO has secured a contract with Arm and its parent company SoftBank Group SFTBF (SFTBY). The deal involves developing a specialized AI chip designed to power SoftBank's data centers in Japan, potentially generating $30 billion in revenue. Why It Matters: Arm is reportedly in competition with Qualcomm to supply data center CPUs to Meta Platforms, Inc. ARM (META.O). Earlier in the day it was reported that Arm has already secured a portion of this business, although discussions between Meta and Qualcomm are still ongoing. Arm's stock has experienced a remarkable 155% surge since its September 2023 IPO, driven by AI growth and smartphone integration. Earlier this month, Arm also confirmed its central role in the $100 billion Stargate AI infrastructure project with OpenAI and Oracle. Price Action: Arm's shares rose 0.1% in after-hours trading, hitting $165. Earlier on Thursday, the stock closed at $164.83, marking a 6.06% gain, according to Benzinga Pro data. Image via Shutterstock Read Next: Ray Dalio Warns US Could 'Go Broke' As Debt Soars, Urges Action To Avert Crisis Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. AAPLApple Inc$241.481.95%Overview Rating:Good75%Technicals Analysis1000100Financials Analysis600100WatchlistOverviewARMARM Holdings PLC$165.006.17%AVGOBroadcom Inc$234.95-0.59%NVDANVIDIA Corp$135.002.94%QCOMQualcomm Inc$172.201.12%SFTBFSoftBank Group Corp$61.921.50%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs