FTC Launches In-Depth Probe into SoftBank's $6.5 Billion Acquisition of AI Chip Designer Ampere

SoftBank's acquisition of AI chip designer Ampere may be facing an FTC probe

SoftBank's $6.5 billion acquisition of AI-chip designer Ampere is facing an in-depth US government probe that may delay the deal, according to Bloomberg. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has opened a so-called second request for information, a relatively rare investigation that can go on for more than a year or even lead to a lawsuit blocking it, according to people familiar with the matter. Neither SoftBank nor Ampere have commented on the matter. Japan's SoftBank, headed by Masayoshi Son, already owns chip designer Arm following a $32 billion acquisition in 2016. Ampere, founded in 2018 with a focus on cloud-native computing, recently moved strongly into AI chip design -- so SoftBank is betting that the company will bolster's Arm's research and development in that area. Under the deal, Santa Clara-based Ampere would would keep its name and run as a wholly-owned subsidiary. If the deal goes through, SoftBank will own Arm, UK chip designer Graphcore Ltd. and Ampere, all key players in the AI space. The FTC may therefore be probing the deal as a potential antitrust issue. SoftBank's attempt to sell Arm to NVIDIA was eventually abandoned for similar reasons. The AI space has also become politicized with projects like Stargate, which heavily involves SoftBank as well. SoftBank has battled some headwinds of late. Stargate has been facing delays due to US tariffs and its Arm division is battling Qualcomm over chip licenses and antitrust complains in Europe, the US and South Korea.

FTC seeks more information about SoftBank's Ampere deal: Report - The Economic Times

SoftBank announced the purchase of the startup in March, part of its efforts to ramp up its investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure. The report did not state the reasoning for the FTC request.The US Federal Trade Commission is seeking more details about SoftBank Group Corp's planned $6.5 billion purchase of semiconductor designer Ampere Computing, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday. The inquiry, known formally as a second request for information, suggests the acquisition may undergo an extended government review, the report said. SoftBank announced the purchase of the startup in March, part of its efforts to ramp up its investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure. The report did not state the reasoning for the FTC request. SoftBank, Ampere and the FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. SoftBank is an active investor in US tech. It is leading the financing for the $500 billion Stargate data centre project and has agreed to invest $32 billion in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.