ARM is selling entire processors for the first time

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ARM is no longer just a provider of chip designs; it is now designing entire processors and selling them to data center operators. The first product is called AGI CPU, inspired by the much-vaunted true AI "Artificial General Intelligence." However, the processor has nothing to do with such a super-AI; it is merely intended to be suitable for orchestrating AI agents.

ARM has been preparing for this step for years. Qualcomm accused ARM of such plans back in 2024 and complained about distortion of competition. Its own processors are ARM's strongest lever for increasing its own revenue. Apart from licensing fees, ARM has so far only earned a small amount (royalty) per ARM processor used.

136 cores in two chiplets

The AGI CPU uses 136 compute cores of the Neoverse V3 type in its largest configuration, paired with two 128-bit vector units. However, ARM is not using the strongest configuration: instead of the possible 3 MB of Level 2 cache per core, ARM is content with 2 MB. In addition, there are 128 MB of system-level cache, which all cores share similarly to a Level 3 cache.

The base frequency is a moderate 3.2 GHz; a boost to up to 3.7 GHz is possible. DDR5-8800 RDIMM modules run on 12 memory channels. ARM provides for two modules per memory channel as an option. An AGI CPU offers 96 PCI Express 6.0 lanes and supports Compute Express Link (CXL 3.0) for connecting additional memory. Up to two processors can be coupled together via the mainboard.

An AGI CPU consists of two identical chiplets, each with 68 CPU cores, produced by the Taiwanese chip contract manufacturer TSMC using 3-nanometer structures. Scaled-down processor variants appear with 128 and 64 CPU cores, but still with all memory channels and PCIe lanes. All three models have a Thermal Design Power (TDP) of 300 watts.

Little Competition

At first glance, ARM competes with other processor manufacturers. However, in the ARM world, there are almost no independent ones left. The biggest competitor would have been Ampere Computing, but the company always remained a niche player. Furthermore, ARM's parent company Softbank has now also acquired Ampere.

Qualcomm, which wants to offer its own server processors and is already in conflict with ARM over licensing disputes, would likely be the loser in the future. In addition, ARM could take market share from x86 giants AMD and Intel, which sell CPUs independently to hyperscalers.

However, AMD is already switching to TSMC's 2nm technology this year, increasing to 256 cores and 16 memory channels in a CPU. Intel's space-optimized Xeon 6+, alias Clearwater Forest, already has 288 cores today.

Nvidia now also offers processors individually with Vera, but the focus is on combined systems with Vera CPUs and Rubin GPUs. ARM's AGI CPU does not enter this arena.

Developed together with Meta

ARM makes life potentially easier for all major hyperscalers with a complete processor. They no longer need to design their own chips if ARM's offering is sufficient.

Amazon AWS (Graviton), Google (Axion), and Microsoft (Cobalt), for example, have so far launched their own ARM CPUs, which are used exclusively in their own data centers. Microsoft Azure Cobalt 200 is built similarly to the AGI CPU with 132 Neoverse V3 cores but uses larger caches.

Meta has not designed its own ARM processors to date and instead relies heavily on ARM's AGI CPU. Both companies designed the processor together; Meta is also expected to be significantly involved in future generations.

Servers available in small series

ARM offers complete reference servers aimed at traditional air-cooled racks. A 36-kilowatt rack with 30 blades houses 60 CPUs. Supermicro will present a water-cooled 200-kilowatt server with AGI CPUs. Other systems come from Asrock Rack and Lenovo. Asrock Rack and Supermicro are already showcasing their servers.

First systems are expected to be available in small quantities. ARM expects broader availability in the second half of the year.

(mma)