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Tag: Rene Haas

  • Arm Cutting Up to 15% of Its Workforce

    Arm Cutting Up to 15% of Its Workforce

    In the wake of its failed Nvidia deal, Arm is cutting up to 15% of its workforce, or roughly 1,000 jobs.

    Nvidia made a high-profile attempt to purchase Britain’s leading tech company for some $40 billion. Arm’s current owner, SoftBank, has been eager to sell the chip designer in an effort to recoup losses it has incurred from some of its other investments. Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic, however, objected to the merger over anti-competitive concerns, ultimately scuttling the deal.

    In the wake of the failed deal, Arm’s CEO resigned and was succeeded by Rene Haas. Haas has now informed employees of a significant cut in the company’s workforce, some 15%, or roughly 1,000 employees. The new CEO sent an email to employees that was seen by The Telegraph, according to The Register.

    “To stay competitive, we need to remove duplication of work now that we are one Arm; stop work that is no longer critical to our future success; and think about how we get work done.”

    Haas added that Arm needs “to be more disciplined about our costs and where we’re investing.”

    SoftBank has already made it clear it intends to take Arm public. The workforce cuts are likely an effort to trim the fat from Arm and put it in the best position to compete as an independent company.

  • It’s Official: The Nvidia and Arm Deal Is Off, Arm Appoints New CEO

    It’s Official: The Nvidia and Arm Deal Is Off, Arm Appoints New CEO

    Nvidia and Arm have officially abandoned a deal that would have seen Nvidia purchase the semiconductor firm for $40 billion.

    Nvidia announced in September 2020 that it would purchase Arm Holdings for $40 billion. Almost immediately, critics jumped on the announcement, citing a number of concerns. UK lawmakers were concerned about the country’s preeminent semiconductor firm being sold to an American company, especially at a time when the semiconductor industry is increasingly becoming an area of national security focus. Competitors were concerned Nvidia would hoard Arm’s greatest breakthroughs for itself, in contrast to Arm’s long-standing pattern of selling its semiconductor designs to any company willing to pay.

    After intense opposition from the UK, the EU, and even a lawsuit filed by the FCC to block the acquisition, the two companies have officially called it off.

    “Arm has a bright future, and we’ll continue to support them as a proud licensee for decades to come,” said Jensen Huang, founder and chief executive officer of NVIDIA. “Arm is at the center of the important dynamics in computing. Though we won’t be one company, we will partner closely with Arm. The significant investments that Masa has made have positioned Arm to expand the reach of the Arm CPU beyond client computing to supercomputing, cloud, AI and robotics. I expect Arm to be the most important CPU architecture of the next decade.”

    Meanwhile, Arm’s CEO, Simon Segars, has stepped down and been replaced by Rene Haas, a 35-year veteran of the semiconductor industry.

    “Rene is the right leader to accelerate Arm’s growth as the company starts making preparations to re-enter the public markets,” said Masayoshi Son, Representative Director, Corporate Officer, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. “I would like to thank Simon for his leadership, contributions and dedication to Arm over the past 30 years.”

    “It is an honor to lead the world’s most influential technology company at a time when Arm’s market opportunity has never been greater,” said Mr. Haas. “As the innovators of the industry’s most pervasive compute architecture, Arm changed lives around the globe by delivering the technology at the heart of the smartphone revolution. We are now uniquely positioned to address the diverse demands of AI, cloud, IoT, automotive and the Metaverse. And with the uncertainty of the past several months behind us, we are emboldened by a renewed energy to move into a growth strategy and change lives around the world―again.”