Graphcore to invest $1.3 billion, open new campus in Bengaluru

Nigel Toon, cofounder and CEO of Graphcore

MUMBAI: British semiconductor company Graphcore, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group, is launching a new AI engineering campus in Bengaluru and planning to create 500 semiconductor jobs with up to $1.3 billion (1 billion pounds) invested over the next decade. The engineering centre will be a core part of building advanced AI computing, contributing to SoftBank Group’s goal of being the leading artificial superintelligence platform provider. Recruitment for the first 100 AI semiconductor engineering positions in India has already started, spanning roles in silicon logical design, physical design, verification, characterization, and chip bring-up. “We want this to be a parallel team taking full ownership of the products on the roadmap. So, in my mind, the idea of outsourcing or offshoring has very bad connotations. I see this much more as an integral part of the development team inside Graphcore that takes ownership, builds complete products, and manages the delivery of those products. We are concentrating the software team in the UK, but over time, I see us building more capability in India. We plan to hire 500 people primarily in silicon roles, but I’m sure we will add other skills and capabilities as well,” Nigel Toon, cofounder and CEO of Graphcore, told TOI.