Arm makes its own chip for the first time, Meta among first partners

After more than three decades of licensing its architectures, British company Arm has made a major strategic move by launching its own processor for the first time. This is a significant change in the semiconductor industry, as it puts Arm directly in competition with its existing partners.

At an event in San Francisco, CEO Rene Haas unveiled a new data processor, dubbed the AGI CPU, which is intended for use in artificial intelligence data centers.

The first major partner is Meta, which is rapidly building out its AI infrastructure and plans to invest up to $135 billion this year. The company has already secured large quantities of Nvidia and AMD chips, and is now adding Arm to its ecosystem.

According to Meta engineer Paul Saab, the new solution brings more flexibility in both the software and the supply chain.

Although GPUs are key to the development of AI, experts warn that CPUs are becoming the new bottleneck. With the development of so-called agent-based AI, the need for general processing power, which is provided by CPUs, is increasing. Analysts predict that the growth of the CPU market could even exceed the growth of GPUs by 2028.

Arm is betting on energy efficiency. The new processor is said to offer up to twice the performance-to-power ratio compared to traditional x86 systems.

This is crucial for data centers, where power consumption is one of the biggest constraints.

Arm's entry into manufacturing marks a significant shift in the industry. A company long considered a neutral technology provider is now becoming a direct competitor.

At the same time, the move reflects a broader trend: tech giants are seeking alternatives and greater independence in supply chains.