GlobalFoundries has signed an settlement to accumulate MIPS, a chip design firm greatest recognized for its work on RISC-V processors. The deal is geared toward increasing GlobalFoundries’ place in AI-enabled community infrastructure, particularly on the edge.
MIPS will proceed to run as an impartial enterprise below the brand new setup. The corporate develops processor architectures, which is able to now sit alongside GlobalFoundries’ semiconductor manufacturing capabilities.
The concentrate on MIPS stems from its work in AI chip design. Lately, the Sunnyvale-based agency has shifted towards RISC-V, an open instruction set structure that helps diminished instruction set computing. RISC-V has gained momentum amongst chipmakers and cloud corporations in search of extra flexibility exterior conventional processor licensing fashions.
MIPS has introduced in executives from AMD and rival RISC-V agency SiFive to push this shift ahead. Its Atlas processor lineup consists of compute cores designed for low-latency duties, real-time processing, and edge AI purposes — making it a superb match for units like sensible routers, switches, and base stations that require quick decision-making near the community.
Bringing MIPS into the fold provides GlobalFoundries entry to in-house processor IP, which, when mixed with its manufacturing, might enchantment to {hardware} makers constructing chips for telecom and enterprise networks. That features distributors like Cisco or OEMs like Nokia, who depend on customized SoCs for his or her 5G and networking gear.
Edge AI curiosity retains rising
AI on the community edge is gaining extra consideration as corporations look to course of knowledge nearer to the place it’s generated. This method helps scale back latency, cuts down on bandwidth use, and improves reliability for time-sensitive purposes.
In line with SDxCentral, a lot of the present funding in edge AI targets on-prem tools utilized by enterprises — particularly for personal networks, sensible manufacturing, and safety methods.
A few of this push is being led by telecom operators. Verizon, as an example, has labored with Nvidia to assist enterprise AI workloads. Whereas edge AI hasn’t but delivered a robust return for many gamers, IDC expects the market to achieve momentum. The analysis agency predicts spending on edge computing will attain $380 billion by 2028, pushed partially by AI deployments.
GlobalFoundries, with MIPS below its roof, is attempting to place itself to assist this shift. By combining its chip design and fabrication capabilities, it might supply custom-made options for AI workloads in compact, power-efficient units used on the community edge.
Deal phrases not public
Particulars of the acquisition, together with the acquisition worth, haven’t been disclosed. The final recognized valuation for MIPS was in 2017, when Tallwood Enterprise Capital acquired it from Creativeness Applied sciences for $60 million.
MIPS has modified fingers a couple of occasions since then. In 2018, it was acquired by Wave Computing, which later restructured and introduced the MIPS model again. In 2019, Shanghai-based CIP United secured unique rights to the MIPS structure for mainland China and associated areas in a separate deal price $60 million. That settlement stays unchanged and isn’t affected by GlobalFoundries’ acquisition.
The present deal is predicted to shut within the second half of 2025, pending regulatory approval.
(Photograph by Igor Omilaev)
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