Arm Reveals New Technology to Compete with Intel Chips

Published on April 5, 2021

Arm Ltd. has revealed its latest computer chip architecture, including designs set to target and overtake the current chip market. The Cambridge, U.K.-based company also introduced a roadmap to layout its plans for the next decade.

Arm announced that its new chips will include capabilities to help them better handle machine learning, a powerful kind of artificial intelligence software; it will also come with greater security built into the silicon to lock down on its data and computer code. This new generation of technology, known as ArmV9, marks the first update made to the company’s architecture in over ten years, and plans to take aim at its main competitor, Intel.

Simon Segars, Arm’s chief executive officer, said that the need for technology with a greater performance is necessary as the chip industry “moves away from general-purpose compute to more specialized applications” like AI and 5G.

“At the current rate, 100% of the world’s shared data will soon be processed on Arm, either at the endpoint, in the data networks or in the cloud,” he said. “Such pervasiveness conveys a responsibility on Arm to deliver more security and performance.”

Arm creates the chip technology found in most of the world’s smartphones; Arm also licenses out its technology to companies like Apple, Samsung, Huawei and Qualcomm—so if you own a smartphone, iPhone or Android, it most likely runs on Arm. According to the company, the blueprint for the new architecture shows that it should deliver a 30 percent performance increase over the next two generations of processors for mobile devices and data center servers.

Arm and Nvidia Corporation

Nvidia Corporation, an American multinational technology company, announced its acquisition of Arm last September. Nvidia specializes in designing graphic processing units (GPU) for gaming and professional markets; it also creates units for mobile computing and automotive markets.

The $40 billion transaction will bring together Nvidia’s leading AI computing platform and the Arm ecosystem to “create a premier computing company for the age of artificial intelligence.”

Jensen Huang, CEO and founder of Nvidia said: “In the years ahead, trillions of computers running AI will create a new internet-of-things that is thousands of times larger than today’s internet-of-people. Our combination will create a company fabulously positioned for the age of AI.”

However, several companies revealed their true feelings on the acquisition.

Google, Microsoft and Qualcomm contacted U.S. antitrust regulators, stating that the deal will harm competition in an area of the industry that is vital to their businesses. The companies’ main concern lies with possibility of Arm’s competitors receiving limited access to its chip technology, or the Arm potentially raising the price to said access.

The acquisition is still under review with the Federal Trade Commission; it will also go through additional review processes with antitrust officials in the U.K., E.U. and China.

A Nvidia spokesperson told Bloomberg: “As we proceed through the review process, we’re confident that both regulators and customers will see the benefits of our plan to continue Arm’s open licensing model and ensure a transparent, collaborative relationship with Arm’s licensees.”

Lexi Jones is an award-winning journalist and Staff Writer at Grit Daily. Based in Las Vegas, she covers startup brands in entertainment, internet and LGBTQ+ startup news. She is also an editor of Grit Daily's "Top 100" entrepreneur lists.

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