(Reuters) – SoftBank Group (TYO:) Hand Holdings (NASDAQ:) plans to develop artificial intelligence chips, aiming to release the first products in 2025, Asia reported on Sunday.
British company Arm will create a division for the production of artificial intelligence chips and aims to create a prototype by spring 2025, the report says. Mass production will be carried out by contract manufacturers and is expected to begin in the fall of 2025, Nikkei Asia reports.
Arm will pay initial development costs, which could rise to hundreds of billions of yen, with SoftBank also contributing, the report said.
Once a mass production system is in place, the artificial intelligence chip business could be spun off and brought under SoftBank’s control, the newspaper reported, adding that SoftBank is already in talks with Taiwan Semiconductor Corp. and other companies over production as it seeks to secure production capacity.
Arm, SoftBank and TSMC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The British chip designer, which licenses its chip designs and raises funds through royalties, is expanding into the data center market, where operators are looking to build their own chips to support new models of artificial intelligence and reduce their dependence on dominant supplier Nvidia (NASDAQ:) . .