Arm wants to build its own chips, so it may be poaching from chip-making clients
Big if true: The rumors about Arm’s ambitions to enter the chip manufacturing business appear to be true after all. Industry sources now claim the UK-based designer is in need of a highly skilled workforce and has begun poaching top talent from clients.
Arm Holdings is currently on a recruiting spree, with the ultimate goal of entering the chip production industry independently. Reuters has quoted several sources familiar with the matter, all of whom confirm Arm’s “sudden” interest in the manufacturing side of the microchip industry.
Arm’s core business revolves around licensing its namesake instruction set architecture to other silicon designers and chip foundries around the world. The company has been around since the 1980s, initially selling home computers with RISC processors under the Acorn Computers brand. Virtually all modern smartphones feature processors based on the Arm ISA, but Arm earns money through licensing deals, rather than from actual device sales.
The UK-based designer is clearly trying to change the status quo. Two Reuters sources revealed that Arm has been reaching out to its licensing partners, attempting to recruit executives and potential employees from other positions to help build its new chipmaking business. The news agency was able to examine a copy of a “note” sent by an Arm recruiter to an executive at one of its customers.
The note states that Arm wants to transform its licensing-only business model into a company that sells its own silicon products. The new chips would focus on “AI enablement in the data center” and other computing devices, according to the note. Arm has also reached out to other chip designers in Silicon Valley, seeking to hire new talent and experts in the area.
Over the past few years, Arm has adopted a much more proactive approach to the chipmaking business. In 2022, the company sued Qualcomm to terminate their licensing agreement, but was later forced to abandon the effort. During the legal dispute over Qualcomm’s licensing rates, Arm CEO Rene Haas stated that the company had never been involved in building chips.
Sources say Arm began attempting to hire new managers from its customers as early as November. Haas’ testimony occurred just a few weeks later. Regardless, Arm’s attempt to start designing and selling its own chips could send a shockwave through the entire mobile industry.
Historically, Arm Holdings has been considered a neutral player in the market, while silicon providers like Broadcom and Qualcomm have raked in billions by developing Arm-based custom CPUs. If Arm were to abandon its neutral stance, the chipmaking industry might react in unpredictable ways.
