Intel plans to spend more than $2 billion to acquire SiFive

ARM launched the ARMv9 architecture this year, and it can be foreseen that it will have a further impact on x86 processors in the near future. In recent years, in addition to ARM, there is another emerging force, that is, the RISC-V architecture. Relying on the characteristics of open source, scalability, and modularity, it has attracted the attention of many companies. For example, Western Digital now uses hundreds of millions of RISC-V architecture chips in its products every year.

Especially after Nvidia announced the acquisition of ARM, many companies worry that ARM will not be able to continue to maintain independence in the future, making more and more chip design manufacturers choose RISC-V architecture, which is currently developing rapidly.

RISC-V foundation [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

According to Bloomberg, Intel intends to spend more than $2 billion to acquire SiFive and has begun negotiations with SiFive. The source pointed out that the negotiations are still at an early stage and a final agreement may not be reached. In addition to Intel, several companies have also expressed interest in SiFive. In SiFive’s Series C financing in 2018, Intel began to participate in SiFive’s investment. In March of this year, SiFive announced the cooperation with Intel Foundry Business (IFB) to develop a new RISC-V computing platform.

In Intel’s IDM 2.0 strategy, its business and plans will be more flexible. Through this acquisition, it can increase its bargaining chips in future competition.