Chipmaker GlobalFoundries acquires chip designer MIPS

GlobalFoundries has acquired chip design firm MIPS, creating a company that both designs and creates semiconductors.

The two companies announced the deal on Tuesday, without revealing how much money will change hands, but with the caveat that MIPS will “continue to operate as a standalone business within GF and serve its customers across a broad range of technologies.”

That means MIPS will likely be free to go about its business, which in recent years has focused on developing processor designs based on the permissively-licensed RISC-V instruction set architecture.

Companies like MIPS license their designs to companies that need chips designed for specific applications or want to build custom chips.

GlobalFoundries is happy to manufacture those chips – or indeed any other chip that someone wants to build – as is the case for most silicon foundry operators.

Owning its own chip designer means GlobalFoundries now has a broader offering. Or as CEO ...