GlobalFoundries buys RISC-V chip firm MIPS to accelerate its AI ambitions – News

U.S. chipmaker GlobalFoundries Inc. is moving into the RISC-V processor business after announcing plans to buy the chip developer MIPS Technology LLC for an undisclosed price.

GlobalFoundries said it plans to let MIPS continue to operate as a standalone business, but the acquisition will also allow it to design and build its own processors based on the RISC-V instruction set architecture, which rivals x86 and Arm-based chips. Instruction sets are a collection of technologies that can be used to build central processing units. They describe the computing operations that the millions of transistors on a chip should carry out.

MIPS is an old name in the semiconductor industry, having been founded back in 1985, when it launched with chips for personal computers and servers based on the legacy MIPS architecture. Since then, MIPS has been bought and sold multiple times, and in the last decade it abandoned the old MIPS architecture and pivoted to RISC-V.

The acquisition brings a bunch of interesting technologies into GlobalFoundries’ portfolio, including intellectual property for general-purpose central processing units, artificial intelligence inference accelerators and various RISC-V-based sensors.

MIPS’ most recent processors are its Atlas CPUs, which are based on the latest RISC-V ISA instruction set, and include a range of different cores that are aimed at both general-purpose and real-time processing workloads. It also sells specialized versions for edge AI applications, offering high performance compute with low-power consumption.

GlobalFoundries said the acquisition will bolster its ability to sell integrated semiconductor solutions to a wider variety of end markets, particularly the AI industry. It also hints at the company’s plans to evolve from being a mere contract chip manufacturer to one that offers more integrated semiconductor solutions. Analysts say GlobalFoundries may well look into leveraging MIPS’ technologies to design its own RISC-V processors, in a move that may well put it in direct competition with several of its customers, who use its chip fabs to manufacture the processors they design.

Tom’s Hardware speculates that the acquisition also brings benefits to MIPS, as it means it will gain access to differentiated process nodes and a global network of semiconductor fabrication plants. That could mean MIPS can get its chips to market more quickly than before, and may help it to compete for orders from customers such as the U.S. Department of Defense. It requires its chips to be built at secure production facilities, where they can’t be interfered with. That said, the integration of the two companies will be a slow process, potentially taking several years to complete.

GlobalFoundries President and Chief Operating Officer Niels Anderskouv said MIPS will allow it to offer more flexible solutions to customers, so they can build superior products. “This acquisition will be a powerful step forward to push the boundaries of efficiency and performance across a broad range of applications in automotive, industrial and datacenter infrastructure,” he said.

Investors were clearly impressed with the company’s new vision, as GlobalFoundries stock rose almost 7% after the acquisition was announced.

Because MIPS will operate as a standalone business within GlobalFoundries, it will continue to maintain its existing relationships with other customers and foundries, said MIPS Chief Executive Sameer Wasson. He hailed the deal as a “bold new chapter” for the company.

“GlobalFoundries’ proven track record in delivering differentiated technologies through a secure, global manufacturing footprint will enhance our ability to accelerate innovation and scale our solutions, unlocking new opportunities in the physical AI space and driving even greater value for our customers,” he added.

The acquisition is slated to close in the second half of the year, subject to customary regulatory reviews and closing conditions.

Photo: GlobalFoundries