SoftBank to acquire British AI chip startup Graphcore

Japan's SoftBank Group is planning to acquire British AI chip startup Graphcore for about 400 million pounds (about 500 million U.S. dollars). The deal is undergoing a review of the UK government's national security legislation, which is the last hurdle before the deal is officially announced. Although SoftBank's valuation of Graphcore is far lower than the "double unicorn" status it achieved at the end of 2020, the deal is still expected to succeed given Graphcore's current predicament.