Qualcomm Makes Bold RISC-V Bet with Ventana Acquisition
Ventana is known for building high-performance, secure compute chiplets based on the open RISC-V architecture.
Qualcomm has acquired Ventana Micro Systems in a move that deepens its investment in RISC-V technology and strengthens its CPU engineering roadmap across next-generation AI-driven computing.
Ventana, founded in 2018 and headquartered in Cupertino, is known for building high-performance, secure compute chiplets based on the open RISC-V architecture. The company also serves on the RISC-V International Board of Directors and its Technical Steering Committee.
The acquisition brings Ventana’s core expertise in RISC-V instruction set architecture directly into Qualcomm’s CPU development pipeline. The team will support ongoing work on both RISC-V initiatives and Qualcomm’s custom Oryon CPU technology, which powers its next generation of AI-enabled platforms.
Interestingly, earlier this year, Qualcomm shifted its flagship chips to Arm’s latest v9 computing architecture, marking a pivotal step in its battle with Apple and MediaTek.
“We believe the RISC-V instruction set architecture has the potential to advance the frontier on CPU technology, enabling innovation across products. The acquisition of Ventana Micro Systems marks a pivotal step in our journey to deliver industry-leading RISC-V based CPU technology across products,” said Durga Malladi, executive vice president and general manager, technology planning, edge solutions and datacenter, Qualcomm Technologies.
Balaji Baktha, CEO of Ventana Micro Systems, added, “We are thrilled to join the Qualcomm team and contribute our RISC-V expertise in the development of Qualcomm’s leading Oryon CPU technology. Qualcomm’s acquisition marks an exciting new chapter for our team and we look forward to joining Qualcomm’s team to push the boundaries of energy-efficient high-performance for next-generation products and experiences.”
Qualcomm said the integration of Ventana will bolster its long-term plan to deliver low-power, high-performance compute solutions across devices, enterprises, and edge applications as AI workloads continue to grow globally.
In October, Qualcomm Inc. made a bold entry into the data-centre AI inference market with the launch of its next-generation solutions, the AI200 and AI250, designed to deliver rack-scale performance with high memory capacity, efficiency and reduced cost of ownership. The AI200 will be available commercially in 2026, with the AI250 following in 2027.
Comments ()