Global Foundry, a major semiconductor manufacturer, has embarked on a new strategy to merge design and manufacturing with the acquisition of MIPS, a resurgence of RISC-V processors.
🟦 Global Foundry to Acquire MIPS, Challenges New Era of “Design + Manufacturing” with RISC-V and AI
Global Foundry has announced the acquisition of MIPS Technology, a notable RISC-V-based processor design. This will break away from the conventional contract manufacturing (foundry) business and strengthen the provision of “integrated solutions” combined with in-house process technology.
- Acquisition Overview
Global Foundry has acquired MIPS and expects to close in the second half of 2025. MIPS will continue to operate as an independent entity after the acquisition. - Technical Features and Benefits
MIPS adopts the open architecture RISC-V and deploys the Atlas processor series and the virtual design platform Atlas Explorer, which are optimized for real-time processing and AI edge. - Target Market It is expected to be used in the field of “Physical AI” (AI linked to the physical world), mainly in growth fields such as
autonomous driving, industrial equipment, data centers, and intelligent edge.
🟦 Why do foundries buy design companies? Changes in the industry structure behind it
The background to this acquisition is the evolution of the foundry industry from “manufacturing contracting” to “integrated provision of design, manufacturing, and packaging”. Also known as “Foundry 2.0,” co-optimization is the key to aligning design assets (IP) and manufacturing technologies.
Traditionally, the division of labor has been the mainstream, but as the evolution of miniaturization technology slows down, it is necessary to tightly integrate design and manufacturing to optimize performance, power consumption, and area. RISC-V is emerging as a “third option” alternative to x86 and Arm, and it is of great strategic significance for global foundries to in-house their design assets. This can be said to overlap with IDM 2.0 promoted by Intel.
🟦 Summary
The global foundry’s acquisition of MIPS is a significant step towards enhancing competitiveness in the AI era through the fusion of design and manufacturing.
The “IDM 2.0” promoted by Intel and Samsung has limited results so far, but it will be very interesting to see how successful the global foundry “Foundry 2.0” will be.
