The Japanese technology company SoftBank Group has announced the complete takeover of US chip designer Ampere Computing for USD 6.5 billion. Founded in Silicon Valley in 2018, the company specializes in ARM-based processors for cloud computing and AI applications.

Intel could possibly be split up. As the Wall Street Journal reports, citing insiders, both the Taiwanese contract manufacturer TSMC and the US group Broadcom are showing interest in various business areas of the ailing chip giant.

The coronavirus crisis has mercilessly exposed the dependence of the USA, the EU and Germany on Asian chip manufacturers. While demand for semiconductors exploded at the time, production lines in Germany came to a standstill - especially in the automotive industry.