Arm has expanded its Arm Flexible Access program to accelerate development by reducing up-front costs and process burdens amidst growing demand for edge AI and shortening silicon design cycles. This revamp focuses on broadening IP access, expanding startup support criteria, and simplifying the pricing structure, enabling design teams to conduct more flexible, iterative experimentation and validation.

On February 9th, Arm officially announced updates to its Arm Flexible Access platform. These updates include an expanded product portfolio, a simplified subscription process, and a single pricing structure. Arm aims to reduce design complexity and streamline the timeline from exploration to mass production.

On the technology side, key IPs have been added to support the expansion of edge AI. Following the inclusion of the Arm v9 Edge AI Platform in October 2025, the new Ethos-U85 NPU is now available. The Ethos-U85 targets always-on edge AI with improved performance and support for Transformer-based models compared to previous generations. The NPU has been applied to Alif Semiconductor's edge AI processor and development kit, and also used in Ambiq's Atomiq SoC for on-device AI.

Additionally, the real-time AI solution based on the Arm Corstone-320 reference design integrates the Cortex-M85 CPU, Ethos-U85 NPU, and Mali-C55 ISP to support SoC implementation in wearables, low-power vision devices, voice interfaces, and industrial IoT systems. The Cortex-M52 processor is based on the Armv8.1-M architecture to improve area and power efficiency, and enhances DSP and machine learning computational performance through Helium technology.

Startup support policies have also been expanded. The investment cap for the Arm Flexible Access for Startups program has been increased from $20 million to $50 million, and the annual revenue threshold has been increased from $1 million to $5 million. This allows more startups to benefit from free access.

In terms of pricing and procedures, the program is available for a single annual fee of $85,000, allowing unlimited tapeouts. License fees are deferred until mass production and include access to IP downloads, simulations, iterative design, and training tools. Many member companies receive design, verification, and ASIC service support through the Arm Approved Design Partners network.

According to Arm, Arm Flexible Access has supported the launch of over 400 chips from over 100 companies to date. Approximately 80 companies in Korea are also participating, leveraging the program across a variety of fields, including edge AI.