Intel debates buyout of SiFive to bolster chip technology against Arm -source

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2021-06-12 09:00:06

Intel Corp (INTC.O) is debating a possible offer to buy SiFive Inc, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, a company closely associated with open-source technology that is challenging the rise of Intel's rival, Arm Ltd.

SiFive, a San Mateo, California-based startup, employs several of the creators of RISC-V, an open-source chip technology that is challenging Arm, the British chip technology firm being acquired by Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) for $40 billion. read more Both Arm and SiFive sell intellectual property such as chip designs to others who ultimately produce the chips.

Bloomberg on Thursday reported Intel's interest, citing a source saying that the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker is mulling a $2 billion offer. Intel, along with rivals such as Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O), is already an investor in SiFive, which raised $61 million in a funding round led by Korea's SK Hynix (000660.KS).

SiFive is designing computing cores using the RISC-V architecture. While the underlying architecture for those cores is open-source, the specific core designs themselves can be sold.

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