SoftBank’s Graphcore to invest £1B into Bengaluru AI hub, creating 500 jobs
The UK-based semiconductor firm plans to expand its global AI footprint with a decade-long £1 billion investment, supporting India’s semiconductor ambitions and SoftBank’s wider AI vision.
Graphcore, a UK-based semiconductor firm and a subsidiary of SoftBank, is planning to invest up to £1 billion over the next decade in a new AI engineering campus in Bengaluru, according to Co-founder, Chairman and CEO Nigel Toon.
The project is expected to create 500 semiconductor jobs, Toon noted in a post.
The British company designs specialised processors, called Intelligence Processing Units (IPUs), for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning workloads.
The Bengaluru campus will be central to Graphcore’s work in AI computing, developing semiconductor products for leading AI practitioners worldwide.
Engineers at the site will focus on areas such as silicon logical design, physical design, verification, characterisation and bring-up, Toon said. The work is expected to support applications in drug discovery, public health, environmental sustainability and business productivity.
“The decision to locate Graphcore's new AI Engineering Campus in Bengaluru was an easy one. Even in a country filled with technology engineering talent, Bengaluru stands out. The ecosystem of world-class universities, high-growth startups, and established multinational technology has earned it the nickname ‘India’s Silicon Valley’,” he wrote.
He added that government initiatives under Prime Minister Modi had helped foster specialist skills in the semiconductor sector, and that Graphcore hoped to contribute to building national capabilities.
Founded in Bristol in 2016, Graphcore develops a complete AI compute stack covering silicon, datacentre infrastructure and software. The company was acquired by SoftBank Group in 2024 and benefits from the wider resources of the SoftBank ecosystem.
SoftBank has already committed to substantial investment in Graphcore, which is expected to reach £1 billion per year over the next few years.
SoftBank acquired Graphcore for an estimated $500–600 million, a sharp contrast to the company’s peak valuation of $2.8 billion. The purchase forms part of SoftBank’s broader ambition to establish itself as a leader in Artificial Super Intelligence and supports its $500 billion Stargate initiative, developed in collaboration with companies including OpenAI and Oracle.
The Japanese multinational investment company’s broader operations in India have seen investment exceeding $12 billion over the past decade, reinforcing its long-term commitment to the country’s technology and semiconductor sectors.
Edited by Affirunisa Kankudti