Graphcore Expands Workforce by 20% After SoftBank Acquisition

Chip designer Graphcore increases staff globally by adding 75 new roles

Graphcore, Bristol-based and the world's leading chip designer has said it will expand its workforce by 20% after being acquired last month by SoftBank Group. In a statement, it said that 75 new positions will be added along with silicon design and data centre engineering roles in key locations around the UK, Poland, and Taiwan.

This growth demonstrates the aspirations of SoftBank growing higher in both semiconductors and artificial intelligence sectors. Graphcore will grow to up to 450 employees, well placed for future successes based on recent losses.

A company called Graphcore was once one of the UK's most promising startups, valued at $2.8 billion for its innovative chips aimed at challenging Nvidia in the AI space.

However, it failed to gain sales momentum and grow its Chinese operations. Graphcore pulled out of China last year and laid off nearly all of its employees in the country. Here is the SoftBank acquisition at a lower valuation than what Graphcore raised from investors.

As part of the efforts by Graphcore to sustain its innovations and strengthen its position in the semiconductor market, there have been new job roles released. It will make Graphcore concentrate more on high-performance chips to be developed for AI applications. In contrast, the diversification of engineers into various regions will boost Graphcore's ability to develop high technologies.

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has moved the company from aggressive venture capital investments towards the focus on chips and AI, of course including majority ownership in Arm Holdings Plc. Graphcore is another one that will be joining SoftBank but here again, not clear whether these entities will collaborate with Arm or not.