After weeks of speculation, it’s now official. NVIDIA will acquire Arm from SoftBank Group Corp (SBG) for US$40 billion.

The combination is potent — bringing together NVIDIA’s AI computing platform with Arm’s vast ecosystem that spans sensors, smartphones and supercomputers — building an incredible 180 billion computers.

“AI is the most powerful technology force of our time and has launched a new wave of computing. In the years ahead, trillions of computers running AI will create a new internet-of-things that is thousands of times larger than today’s internet-of-people. Our combination will create a company fabulously positioned for the age of AI,” said Jensen Huang, Founder and CEO of NVIDIA.

“Uniting NVIDIA’s AI computing capabilities with the vast ecosystem of Arm’s CPU, we can advance computing from the cloud, smartphones, PCs, self-driving cars and robotics, to edge IoT, and expand AI computing to every corner of the globe,” he added.

Build new AI research facility

Arm will remain headquartered in Cambridge where NVIDIA plans to establish a world-class AI research facility equipped with a state-of-the-art AI supercomputer powered by Arm CPUs. The R&D centre will focus on advancing healthcare, life sciences, robotics, self-driving cars, and other fields.

“NVIDIA is the perfect partner for Arm. This is a compelling combination that projects Arm, Cambridge and the UK to the forefront of some of the most exciting technological innovations of our time and is why SoftBank is excited to invest in Arm’s long-term success as a major shareholder in NVIDIA,” said said Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SBG.

“By bringing together the technical strengths of our two companies, we can accelerate our progress and create new solutions that will enable a global ecosystem of innovators,” said Simon Segars, CEO of Arm.

No change to name and brand

Arm will continue to operate its open-licensing model while maintaining the global customer neutrality that has been foundational to its success, with 180 billion chips shipped to-date by its licensees.

NVIDIA intends to retain Arm’s name and brand identity. Arm’s intellectual property will remain registered in the UK.

The proposed deal is expected to take 18 months to complete, subjected to approvals from the UK, China, the European Union, and the US.