SEOUL — Arm, the global leader in semiconductor intellectual property (IP), has officially announced its entry into the silicon manufacturing business. For the first time in its 35-year history, the British chip designer will directly produce and sell CPUs, setting the stage for a high-stakes confrontation with its long-time partners and rivals, Intel and AMD, in the booming Artificial Intelligence (AI) market.

During the 'Arm Everywhere APAC Online Press Session' held on Wednesday, CEO Rene Haas unveiled the company’s first homegrown silicon chip, the "Arm AGI CPU."

“Arm is entering a new business frontier by supplying CPUs in the form of physical chips,” Haas stated. “Our partners, including Meta, have requested specialized CPUs capable of overcoming the bottlenecks found in Agentic AI.”

Superior Performance and Cost Efficiency
The newly introduced Arm AGI CPU is a powerhouse designed for the AI era. It features up to 136 Arm Neoverse V3 cores per unit, delivering over twice the performance per rack compared to traditional x86-based CPUs.

The economic impact is equally significant. Arm estimates that for an AI data center with a 1GW capacity, switching to the AGI CPU could result in cost savings of up to $10 billion (approx. 15 trillion KRW). The chips will initially be manufactured using TSMC’s advanced 3nm process, though Arm hinted at future collaborations with Samsung Electronics for foundry and packaging services.

From IP Licensor to Market Competitor
This strategic pivot marks a seismic shift in the semiconductor industry. For decades, Arm focused solely on licensing its architecture to third parties like Apple, Samsung, and Qualcomm. However, the rise of "Agentic AI"—which demands immense computing power with high energy efficiency—has pushed Arm to take the lead in hardware production.

The industry is already reacting. Meta, which is developing its own AI accelerator "MTIA," has notably bypassed x86 incumbents to select Arm as its CPU partner. Other confirmed launch partners include OpenAI, Cloudflare, SAP, SK Telecom, and Rebellions.

Navigating "Coopetition"
When questioned about the potential conflict of interest with existing customers who also license Arm IP, Haas remained optimistic.

“The market opportunity is vast and remains underserved,” Haas explained. “While we will sell our own silicon, we remain fully committed to our traditional IP licensing and Computing Subsystem (CSS) business models.”

By transitioning from a silent architect to a frontline competitor, Arm is not just designing the future of AI—it is now building it.