Qualcomm takes RISC on Arm alternative with Ventana acquisition

Steven

Qualcomm takes RISC on Arm alternative with Ventana acquisition

Summary

Qualcomm has acquired Ventana Micro Systems and will develop Ventana’s high-performance RISC-V CPU designs in parallel with its custom Arm Oryon cores. Ventana’s Veyron V2 chiplet offers up to 32 RVA23-compatible RISC-V cores clocked to 3.85 GHz, a 512-bit RVV vector unit and a custom matrix accelerator for machine learning. Ventana’s V3 promises higher clocks and FP8 support. Qualcomm did not disclose terms or a commercial timeline, though Ventana silicon is expected in early 2026.

Key Points

  • Qualcomm has acquired Ventana Micro Systems to add high-performance RISC-V CPU IP to its roadmap.
  • Ventana’s Veyron V2 chiplet: up to 32 cores, 3.85 GHz, per-core 1.5 MB L2 and 128 MB shared L3, 512-bit RVV and a matrix math accelerator (approx. 0.5 TOPS/INT8 per GHz per core).
  • Qualcomm will pursue Arm and RISC-V CPU core development in parallel rather than replacing Oryon Arm cores.
  • Ventana’s V3 is teased with higher clocks (up to 4.2 GHz) and an enhanced matrix unit with FP8 support; V2 production slipped to early 2026.
  • The acquisition provides Qualcomm a strategic alternative if its commercial relationship with Arm worsens amid ongoing legal disputes.

Content Summary

Ventana, founded in 2018, has focused on RISC-V designs for datacentre and enterprise servers. Qualcomm already uses RISC-V microcontrollers in Snapdragon SoCs and has collaborated with Google on RISC-V wearables; buying Ventana suggests it now wants to scale RISC-V into higher-performance server-class silicon. The company has not given dates for Qualcomm-branded RISC-V chips, but the move aligns with its declared return to the datacentre CPU market and reduces single‑ISA dependency risk.

Context and Relevance

This acquisition is strategically significant. One of the largest chipmakers buying server-grade RISC-V IP accelerates the ISA’s credibility for datacentre use and increases competitive pressure on Arm and x86 incumbents. For cloud providers, hyperscalers and silicon partners, Qualcomm’s dual-track approach could bring more CPU choices, speed the RISC-V software ecosystem, and act as a hedge against licensing or supply friction with Arm.

Author style

Punchy: this is a heavyweight strategic play — Qualcomm isn’t merely experimenting; it’s buying IP that could seed real server‑class RISC‑V silicon. If you watch semiconductors, cloud infrastructure or CPU architecture, the details matter.

Why should I read this?

Quick and casual: big player snaps up RISC‑V IP — could shake up server and edge CPU markets. If you care about future CPU choices, platform risk or product roadmaps, give it a read. If you build or buy datacentre kit, it’s one to bookmark.

Source

Source: https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/12/10/qualcomm_riscv_arm_ventana/