TOKYO, March 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - SoftBank Group said Wednesday that it had reached a deal to acquire US semiconductor firm Ampere for US $6.5 billion.

The deal, which comes as demand for chips has exploded thanks to the AI boom, is still subject to regulatory approval, SoftBank said in a statement.

Ampere Computing is a chip design firm "focused on high-performance, energy efficient, sustainable" AI technology, based on the ARM compute platform, the statement said.

SoftBank Group is already the majority shareholder in Arm Holdings, whose technology is used in 99 percent of smart phones.

The acquisition, which is expected to close in the second half of 2025, would reinforce SoftBank's aggressive push into AI.

In February, SoftBank Group and US tech giant OpenAI announced that they would form a joint venture to offer advanced artificial intelligence to businesses.

The two were already working together on the Stargate drive announced in January by US President Donald Trump to invest up to $500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States.