NVIDIA and Arm Plan to Develop Data Center-Specific Solutions
Arm IP: "Will Not Be Used as a Tool for US-China Sanctions"
The goal is to become a full-stack company through the merger of the two companies.


“It’s to expand Nvidia’s ecosystem and Arm’s market.”

The Six Five Summit, a global event sharing the strategies, innovations, and leadership of leading technology companies, was held online from June 14th to 18th. Jenson Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, and Simon Segars, CEO of Arm, attended the event, sharing their respective visions and providing an overview of the industry.

The CEOs of Nvidia and Arm said now is the time for their companies to merge, given the proliferation of 5G, the electrification of vehicles, and the digitalization driven by the pandemic.

The conversation was moderated by Patrick Moorhead, president of Moor Insights & Strategy, who asked what impact a merger between NVIDIA and Arm would have. The two companies have so far avoided making specific comments about the merger.

◇ Will the NVIDIA-Arm merger benefit other companies as well?

“Software frameworks are becoming more complex than ever before, demanding higher-performance computing, and the number of such applications is increasing,” said Sigars, CEO of Arm. “This merger will give Arm more resources and build a broader IP portfolio.”

"NVIDIA's AI technology can enhance Arm's competitiveness in markets where it has been well-established," said CEO Jensen Huang. "Arm will now expand into all areas, including cloud, edge, IoT, and HPC." The two companies plan to develop a platform with diverse and deep AI capabilities that other companies can leverage.

The two companies can support a wide range of data center types, from hyperscale warehouses to computing systems near 5G base stations. "NVIDIA will design specialized computers through Arm," Huang said. "Building diverse computers is the true purpose of our two companies." CEO Siegers predicted that the expanded platform created by the merger of the two companies would help companies accelerate innovation and reduce costs.

This statement appears to be a response to concerns that the merger of the two companies could lead to Nvidia monopolizing Arm IP, which is used by many companies around the world, or raising prices.

◇ The merger will have no impact on the UK and China.

Moorhead asked the two CEOs, "With the US company Nvidia acquiring Arm, headquartered in Cambridge, UK, can the UK maintain its status as a tech hub?" Hwang emphasized Nvidia's $100 million investment in the Cambridge-1 supercomputer, asserting that the UK's semiconductor competitiveness would not be subordinated to or undermined by the US.

Segars also stated that even if the two companies were to merge completely, Arm's IP would not be used as a political tool, such as under US-China sanctions. "Export controls are not affected by where a product is made or the nationality of its developer, but rather by the nationality of the company that owns the product," he said. "While US export controls apply to some Arm products, they do not apply to most, and the merger will not change that."

Merger will expand the NVIDIA ecosystem and Arm market.

CEO Huang pointed out that those who view Nvidia's acquisition of Arm negatively, saying that it will undermine the technological independence of Arm and its partners, are falling into the "independence fallacy." He said, "We don't believe that corporate independence enhances the technological prowess or revitalizes the IT ecosystem," adding, "Customers only welcome independence that presupposes strong technological prowess."

CEO Moorhead recently asked whether it was necessary to acquire Arm, citing the example of Nvidia's recent development of the 'Grace CPU' for servers.

“NVIDIA acquired Arm to expand NVIDIA’s ecosystem and Arm’s market,” said CEO Huang. “We are very excited about the opportunity to share Arm’s technology use cases that are applied to millions of diverse devices every day.”

NVIDIA-Arm Takes a Leap Forward to Becoming a Full-Stack Company

Success for AI companies requires a rich set of algorithms, software, and processor designs. CEO Hwang stated, "A full-stack approach is essential in the new world of computing," and added, "We look forward to making the technologies born from our combined efforts available to licensees." CEO Segars added, "This merger addresses everything a full-stack solution requires. We want to have all the necessary components."

“NVIDIA and Arm have tremendous capabilities in their respective fields, even though their areas of expertise overlap very little,” said Moorhead. “Some markets are not very competitive or technologically advanced, and our two companies will pioneer these markets.”