Bulletins

Nvidia buys Arm for $40B

Nvidia, the graphics card giant, announced Sunday night an agreement to acquire the Arm Limited chip operation from SoftBank Group for about $40 billion.

Arm has designed chips used in many of the world's most popular consumer devices, but generally relies on other companies for physical fabrication. Meanwhile, Nvidia is the world leader in consumer graphics, led by the PC video game market. By melding Nvidia's graphics prowess with Arm's design expertise, the combined company could challenge both Intel and AMD in the broader chip market.

In recent years, Nvidia has expanded from the gaming market into artificial intelligence and other business applications. The potential ARM acquisition enhances Nvidia's position in mobile and industrial chip markets.

 Seth Schiesel

Seth Schiesel ( @SethSchiesel) is a former contributing editor for Protocol focused on the business of video games and adjacent industries. He is a former editorial writer for The Boston Globe, entrepreneur and business reporter, technology writer and video game critic for The New York Times.

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