Qualcomm announced the acquisition of Ventana Micro Systems, a Cupertino-based startup focused on high-performance RISC-V CPUs, as it moves to deepen its expertise in open instruction-set architectures. The deal adds Ventana’s RISC-V instruction set and CPU engineering team to Qualcomm Technologies, strengthening its long-term CPU roadmap across edge, client, and data center platforms.Financial terms were not disclosed.
Ventana brings experience in designing extensible, secure, and high-performance RISC-V processors and chiplets. Qualcomm said the Ventana team will complement its ongoing RISC-V initiatives as well as its custom Oryon CPU development, expanding architectural options as AI workloads place growing demands on efficiency, scalability, and customization.
Founded in 2018, Ventana Micro Systems participates actively in the RISC-V ecosystem and holds positions on the RISC-V International Board of Directors and Technical Steering Committee. Qualcomm framed the acquisition as part of a broader effort to shape future CPU architectures and broaden support for RISC-V across multiple product categories.
- Qualcomm integrates Ventana’s RISC-V ISA and CPU engineering expertise
- Acquisition strengthens Qualcomm’s participation in the RISC-V standard and ecosystem
- Ventana team to work alongside Qualcomm’s custom Oryon CPU development
- Move supports broader CPU strategies for AI, edge, and data center workloads
“At Qualcomm, we are committed to shaping the future of intelligent computing. We believe the RISC-V instruction set architecture has the potential to advance the frontier on CPU technology, enabling innovation across products,” said Durga Malladi, executive vice president and general manager, technology planning, edge solutions and datacenter, Qualcomm Technologies.
Ventana’s core technology includes multi-core RISC-V CPUs and chiplets offered as licensable IP and silicon platforms (notably the Veyron family) designed to deliver competitive performance and energy efficiency in cloud, enterprise, edge, and specialized compute environments. The firm has been an active member of the RISC-V International board and technical committees, and has partnered with ecosystem players to broaden adoption of its IP. I
🌐 Analysis: The acquisition follows Qualcomm’s renewed emphasis on CPU differentiation after introducing Oryon cores, initially derived from its Nuvia acquisition, and signals a parallel path that incorporates open RISC-V architectures. Across the industry, competitors including NVIDIA, Intel, AMD, and hyperscalers continue to evaluate RISC-V for accelerators, controllers, and custom CPUs, reflecting broader interest in architectural flexibility and ecosystem control.
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