GlobalFoundries acquires MIPS to start making its own RISC-V processors

[Alfonso Maruccia]

What just happened? GlobalFoundries, now owned by the United Arab Emirates, is undergoing a significant transformation that will bring more chip design capabilities in-house through a notable new acquisition. The company recently announced an agreement to acquire MIPS, the pioneering fabless design firm that developed the seminal MIPS architecture – a RISC-based instruction set adopted by many companies in the 1980s for their own chip designs

In 2021, MIPS announced it was ending development of its proprietary architecture to focus exclusively on open source RISC-V technology.

According to GlobalFoundries, MIPS' RISC-V-based designs are a key driver behind the acquisition. The company's current portfolio includes the Atlas series of computing cores, built for real-time application processing. It has also developed specialized cores for artificial intelligence processing on edge devices, along with the Atlas Explorer virtual platform for chip design optimization.

GlobalFoundries plans to leverage MIPS' expertise to expand its portfolio of custom, flexible chip solutions, with a particular emphasis on industrial, automotive, and data center applications. MIPS technology is well suited for performance-critical workloads, said GlobalFoundries COO Niels Anderskouv, and aligns strategically with rising demand for AI platforms across various markets.

While the original MIPS architecture is no longer in active development and RISC-V is now the preferred technology for new chip designs, MIPS is still leveraging its proprietary IP to enhance the open source ISA. The company draws on a 40-year legacy in RISC computing, with notable innovations such as advanced multithreading capabilities.

According to GlobalFoundries, MIPS is well-positioned to drive the adoption of "physical AI" solutions in robotics and automotive applications.

Nvidia explains that physical AI brings modern artificial intelligence innovations to autonomous systems such as robots and self-driving cars. The technology can "perceive" and perform complex actions in the real, physical world, and GlobalFoundries is especially interested in selling custom chips to companies working in the space.

The MIPS acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2025 for an undisclosed sum, pending unspecified closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

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GlobalFoundries acquires MIPS to start making its own RISC-V processors

 

[WhiteLeaff]

It's quite interesting. Their RISC-V CPU already scales well in terms of the number of cores, the only thing left to do is fine-tune the design for better IPC.

 

[yRaz]

It's quite interesting. Their RISC-V CPU already scales well in terms of the number of cores, the only thing left to do is fine-tune the design for better IPC.

I've been enjoying watching RISC-V

 

[Axeia]

Well I mean, if they aim low enough perhaps there's a market for it? Global Foundries might be stuck on 12nm tech that isn't exactly cutting edge (Samsung, Intel and TSMC and even SMIC all got it beat there).

However for a lot of stuff that doesn't need to be the case. The micro-controller on an ESP32-C3 and C6 (single-core, 160MHz) and P4 (dual-core 400Mhz) are for example RISC-V based on a 40nm node. Compared to that Global Foundries is super advanced. Even the Raspberry Pi 5 is still on 16nm.

If I was in Charge Global Foundries I'd try to get in touch with companies like ESPRESSIF and the Raspberry Pi Foundation. They need a fair bit of reliable volume, they're used for a lot of prototyping of products (which could lead to a lot more volume!), they don't need to be on the cutting edge (which is the niche Global Foundries tries to be in). If you want to make a name for yourself in that market, partner with the companies making the tools and that are used for prototyping.
Should that turn out to be super successful you can always diverge from there later on and I don't know, churn out AI co-processors or or automated driving chips or something.