<div id="readability-page-1"><div>//php echo do_shortcode('[responsivevoice_button voice=&#34;US English Male&#34; buttontext=&#34;Listen to Post&#34;]') ?&gt; Today sees a bold move to bring two key processor architectures, MIPS and ARC, under one umbrella, as GlobalFoundries announced it is buying Synopsys’ ARC processor IP solutions business, including its teams of engineers and designers, and integrating it into the MIPS business.The transaction will see GF acquiring Synopsys’ processor IP portfolio, which consists of ARC-V (RISC-V) and ARC CPU IP, DSP IP, neural network processing unit (NPU) IP, and related software development tools, including ARC MetaWare development toolkits. The transaction also includes Synopsys’ ASIP Designer and ASIP Programmer tools for automating the design and implementation of application-specific instruction-set processors (ASIPs). Synopsys emphasized in its announcement that it and GF will work together to ensure processor IP customers are fully supported through the transition without disruption.MIPS CEO Sameer Wasson told EE Times in an interview, “MIPS and ARC is a great marriage. As the world automates and the world becomes more intelligent, the requirements on processing are low power, lower cost, more AI processing. So it’s pretty natural putting two of the world’s most successful RISC entities together to go attack and deliver compelling solutions in a physical AI world. I think it’s intuitive.” You can watch the full interview with Wasson here, where he explains why it’s a natural fit, the implications, and what it means as GF and MIPS bring ARC into the fold. Watch the video here: <figure></figure>In the official announcement today, Tim Breen, CEO of GlobalFoundries, said, “This acquisition doubles down on our commitment to advancing our leadership in physical AI. By combining Synopsys’ ARC IP and MIPS technologies with GF’s advanced manufacturing capabilities, we are lowering the barrier for customer adoption of the essential technologies that our customers need to innovate faster for the next generation of compute and AI applications. This move will strengthen our differentiated technology roadmap and position GF to deliver end-to-end solutions for our customers that will support the expansion of AI-enabled devices into the physical world.” GF said this strategic move will accelerate GF’s MIPS physical AI roadmap and strengthen its capabilities in custom silicon solutions. The press release adds, “Upon closing, these assets and expert teams will be integrated with MIPS, a GlobalFoundries company, to deliver a comprehensive processor IP suite, especially tailored for physical AI applications. The expanded offering will enhance engagement through IP licensing and software, enabling faster time-to-market for GF’s customers.”<h3>Synopsys rationale for divesting its processor business</h3>The big question that comes to mind is, why did Synopsys want to sell the processor business? When it acquired the ARC processor portfolio through its acquisition of Virage Logic back in 2010, then-CEO Aart de Geus was quite positive about how it complemented the company’s work with ARM. And since then, Synopsys has evolved the portfolio considerably beyond just the original ARC processor architecture, so the company has clearly invested significant effort into developing new products and tools.However, EE Times understands that Synopsys was looking to sell the processor business, and GlobalFoundries, with its newly acquired MIPS business, provided a natural path for some conversation.In addition, Synopsys’ president and CEO Sassine Ghazi has been talking about his company’s commitment to disciplined portfolio and cost management, and to further its leadership in foundation and interface IP. In his comments from Synopsys’ earnings call in December 2025, he talked about focus there: “2026 is a transitional year for the IP business, and we expect growth to be muted. However, given our leadership position in essential interconnect and foundation IP, our healthy sales pipeline, and a renewed focus on the highest value opportunities, we are confident in our long-term, mid-teens growth target.”Synopsys doesn’t break out processor IP revenues in its earnings but brackets it under ‘design IP’, which includes everything from foundation IP and interconnect IP to processor IP. For the 12 months to Oct. 31, 2025, its design IP revenue was $1.75 billion, which was down 8% over the previous year (this segment is around 25% of total revenue, the remaining coming from design automation tools).In a briefing with EE Times this morning, Neeraj Paliwal, senior VP for silicon IP product management at Synopsys, said, “This is a portfolio management exercise for us. There’s a simple thesis behind this transaction. The market for AI has grown leaps and bounds, for which there is a huge demand for our core IP, which includes foundation IP and interface IP. The foundation IP includes everything from cell libraries and embedded memory to I/O, OTP, PUF, and security. Interface IP is where we are seeing the biggest growth.”In the prepared announcement, Synopsys’ Ghazi emphasized this focus, saying, “We are focusing our IP resources and roadmap to further our leadership in essential interface and foundation IP while winning new, high-value opportunities that advance our position as the leading provider of engineering solutions from silicon to systems. GF will be an excellent future steward for the processor IP solutions business, and we are committed to a smooth transition for the team, customers, and partners.”<h3>ARC evolution and processor landscape</h3>Around 25 years ago, the original RISC processor landscape consisted of market leader ARM, and then you had MIPS, followed by two emerging startups called Argonaut RISC Cores—later renamed ARC—and Tensilica. ARC was founded by Rick Clucas and Jez San, and the original processor architect was James Hakewill, supported by Jon Sanders; Tensilica was founded by Chris Rowen. In the last decade, we’ve also seen the emergence of the RISC-V architecture, which has now achieved some significant market penetration.The main difference that ARC and Tensilica provided was the user-configurability of the 32-bit RISC core. That meant you only implemented the functions you needed in the core using a graphical interface tool, which would then generate the specific RTL for that configuration. In order to provide the software tools to back it up, ARC worked with Santa Cruz, Calif.-based Metaware, which it eventually acquired.The interesting thing about ARC is that it got its boost and some of its original seed funding from doing a hardware accelerator, the Super FX chip, for Nintendo, back in the mid-1990s. Jez San is reported to have said to a magazine in 2020, “We were very forward-thinking with the Super FX chip, because what we designed wasn’t a hardwired polygon engine, it was a fully programmable RISC microprocessor. We had the world’s first GPU years before anyone else had done it, because it wasn’t just the polygons—we could do 3D mapping on it, we could do pixel shading on it… We could do anything, except it only ran on 21MHz.”After this success and designs in Intel Mobile at the time, SanDisk, Canon, and other low-power consumer products, ARC listed with a billion-dollar IPO on the London Stock Exchange in 2000 (see: ARC: from 3D Game Chips to Licensable RISC Processor).The company was then bought out by Virage Logic for around $42 million in 2009, and then Synopsys acquired Virage Logic in 2010 for $315 million. Soon after this, in 2013, Cadence bought Tensilica for $380 million.<hr/><h5>Read also:</h5>MIPS CEO: Acquisition by GlobalFoundries Strengthens Edge AI Opportunity Nvidia Invests $2 Billion in Synopsys, Targeting Broader Engineering Design MarketAre Synopsys Layoffs a Harbinger of the AI-Assisted Design Era? </div></div>

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GlobalFoundries is acquiring Synopsys’ ARC processor IP business, integrating it with its MIPS division. This acquisition includes ARC-V and ARC CPU IP, DSP IP, NPU IP, and development tools, aimed at enhancing capabilities in physical AI applications. MIPS CEO Sameer Wasson highlighted the synergy between MIPS and ARC, emphasizing the need for low-power, cost-effective AI processing. Synopsys, focusing on core IP and portfolio management, divested the ARC business to concentrate on foundation and interface IP, which are seeing significant growth.

GlobalFoundries’ MIPS To Buy ARC IP Business from Synopsys