Graphcore has been acquired for an undisclosed amount by Japanese firm, SoftBank, in a deal that secures the firm’s future.

The Bristol-based chipmaker, which has been described as a potential competitor to Nvidia, said last year that there was "material uncertainty" surrounding its survival, with funding needed by May 2024.

The FT has reported, after citing two people close to the matter, that the deal could be worth as much as $600m (£463m).

The secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, Peter Kyle, has welcomed the deal, stating that it was a "welcome end for the uncertainty that has faced Graphcore and its employees".

Co-founder and chief executive officer at Graphcore, Nigel Toon, said: "This is a tremendous endorsement of our team and their ability to build truly transformative AI technologies at scale, as well as a great outcome for our company.

"Demand for AI compute is vast and continues to grow. There remains much to do to improve efficiency, resilience, and computational power to unlock the full potential of AI. In SoftBank, we have a partner that can enable the Graphcore team to redefine the landscape for AI technology."

Managing partners at Chrysalis, which included Graphcore in its portfolio before the sale, Nick Williamson and Richard Watts, added: "With the sale of Graphcore, the company will have met the cash reserve required to fulfil the first part of the CAP; any further realisations should trigger the second part of the CAP, namely the return of £100m to shareholders.

"As mentioned in the interim report, the company continues to be involved in other processes, at different stages of maturity and certainty, that could lead to further cash realisations and we are still exploring the merits of combining these with a debt facility.

"While the Graphcore investment thesis did not play out as originally envisaged, the knowledge the company built in this space was valuable and this has been recognised by SoftBank. As such, we congratulate Toon and his team on effecting this exit and wish them well for the future."

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