Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) moved deeper into the race for data-center and AI silicon dominance by acquiring Ventana Micro Systems.
Announced on Wednesday, Ventana is a fast-rising startup known for high-performance server CPUs built on the RISC-V instruction set architecture.
The deal strengthens Qualcomm’s push to expand beyond mobile chips and build a broader CPU portfolio anchored by its custom Oryon technology.
Qualcomm said the Ventana acquisition will expand its RISC-V engineering capabilities and support ongoing efforts in PC and server silicon. The company added that Ventana’s work in open-standard CPU design will support Qualcomm’s ambition to grow across multiple markets. Additionally, executives said the move will help Qualcomm deepen its position in the AI hardware race.
Ventana, founded in 2018 and based in Cupertino, developed RISC-V cores that delivered performance competitive with leading Arm and x86 data-center processors. The startup offered its technology as multi-core chiplets or as core intellectual property that other companies could integrate. Ventana aimed its products at cloud workloads, hyperscale computing, 5G infrastructure, edge systems, AI applications, machine learning and automotive technology.
Qualcomm has invested heavily in CPU development since its 2021 purchase of Nuvia, a move that cost $1.4 billion. Nuvia gave Qualcomm a custom Arm-compatible design that evolved into the Oryon architecture. Qualcomm placed the first Oryon cores inside last year’s Snapdragon X Series processors as part of its renewed effort to challenge incumbents in the PC market.
Additionally, Qualcomm said in May that it plans to re-enter the server CPU business. That effort gained momentum after it hired a former Intel Xeon chief architect and agreed to acquire Alphawave Semi (LON: AWE) for USD$2.4 billion.
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Qualcomm entered this expansion phase after a major legal victory
Executives said Ventana’s contributions will strengthen Qualcomm’s competitive position. Durga Malladi, an executive vice president at Qualcomm, said the company sees RISC-V as a promising platform for fresh CPU innovation. He noted that Ventana’s technology will help Qualcomm advance its CPU roadmap in the AI era. Malladi added that the acquisition represents a key moment in Qualcomm’s plan to deliver leading RISC-V technology across its product lines.
Ventana CEO Balaji Baktha said his team looks forward to joining Qualcomm. He said Ventana will apply its RISC-V experience to help expand Oryon’s capabilities. In addition, he noted that the combination will support new designs focused on high-performance computing and custom acceleration.
Ventana’s most recent product, the Veyron V2 platform, aimed to push RISC-V deeper into data-center workloads. The platform included a high-performance CPU, a vector unit and integrated matrix math acceleration.
The company designed Veyron V2 to support AI tasks and compute-heavy applications. Ventana said its modular approach let customers integrate domain-specific acceleration, including AI features. Additionally, Ventana claimed Veyron V2 could cut costs by up to 75 per cent and reduce time-to-market by as much as two years for custom solutions. Baktha said earlier this year that leading hyperscalers and HPC clients had already embraced the platform.
Qualcomm enters this expansion phase after a major legal victory over Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARM). Arm had accused Qualcomm and Nuvia of breaching architecture license terms related to Oryon’s development.
The lawsuit sought to block Qualcomm from selling chips that used the Oryon cores. A federal jury rejected two of Arm’s central claims last December.
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Artificial intelligence is reshaping infrastructure demand
Consequently, Qualcomm said the ruling gave it full clearance to continue shipping its Oryon-based products. Arm said it plans to appeal.
Qualcomm said the Ventana acquisition will further strengthen its strategy to design CPUs across PC, server, edge and embedded markets. Furthermore, the company said it expects RISC-V to support long-term innovation and enable new approaches to high-efficiency computing. The company added that Ventana’s technology will support future designs focused on AI performance, cloud scalability and domain-specific acceleration.
Furthermore, analysts said the Ventana acquisition shows how Qualcomm plans to deepen its commitment to heterogeneous computing as AI reshapes infrastructure demand.
Stacy Rasgon of Bernstein said Qualcomm now holds CPU assets across Arm and RISC-V, giving the company more flexibility as cloud providers adopt mixed architectures. Additionally, he said the deal strengthens Qualcomm’s position in a market where companies want CPUs that pair efficiently with AI accelerators.
Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy pointed to the move as a credibility boost for RISC-V in enterprise systems. He said Ventana’s designs already met performance expectations for data-center workloads, and the acquisition may push more hyperscalers to consider open-standard processors.
Furthermore, Moorhead argued that Qualcomm’s stronger CPU roadmap arrives at a moment when Arm-based designs are expanding in servers.
Raymond James analyst Simon Leopold said the end of Qualcomm’s legal dispute with Arm removes a major strategic risk. In addition, he noted that the ruling frees Qualcomm to accelerate Oryon development in both PC and server markets. Meanwhile, he said the acquisition adds pressure on Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) and AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) as new architectures enter the field.
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joseph@mugglehead.com
