SoftBank’s $6.5 Billion Ampere Acquisition Faces Deep FTC Antitrust Review
According to a Bloomberg report, SoftBank’s previously announced $6.5 billion acquisition of Ampere Computing is now under a “Second Request” investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), signaling that the deal could be subjected to an extended regulatory review — and possibly even face the risk of rejection.
The FTC’s issuance of a “Second Request” represents a rarely invoked but intensive antitrust review process reserved for transactions that may pose significant competitive risks. Once triggered, this phase can span several months to over a year, and may ultimately lead to litigation intended to block the transaction altogether.
Both SoftBank and Ampere Computing have declined to comment on the investigation reports.
SoftBank, which acquired Arm in 2016 for $32 billion, views the Ampere Computing acquisition as a strategic enhancement of its AI chip portfolio. Since its founding in 2018, Ampere Computing has focused on cloud-native computing and, more recently, has ventured aggressively into AI chip design.
If the acquisition proceeds unimpeded, SoftBank would hold substantial influence across the AI semiconductor landscape, controlling Arm, Graphcore, and Ampere Computing — a concentration that may raise red flags among regulators concerned with market competition.
Notably, SoftBank’s earlier attempt to sell Arm to NVIDIA was thwarted in 2022 by regulatory agencies in the U.S. and Europe over similar antitrust concerns.
Beyond the Ampere Computing deal, SoftBank’s broader ambitions are facing mounting challenges. Its flagship AI supercomputer initiative, “Stargate,” has encountered delays due to U.S. tariff policies, hindering its planned rollout. Meanwhile, Arm — a SoftBank subsidiary — remains entangled in licensing and antitrust disputes with Qualcomm in jurisdictions including Europe, the U.S., and South Korea.
While it remains uncertain whether the FTC will ultimately block the Ampere acquisition, the outcome of this high-stakes transaction is poised to significantly shape SoftBank’s next chapter in the rapidly intensifying global race for AI dominance.
