Herman Hauser, founder of ARM, has made another attempt to thwart Nvidia's ARM deal. This time, he sent a letter to the British government asking them to ban the deal. If regulators do not interfere with this project, Hauser said, Nvidia will become another US tech monopoly. So breaking the deal, according to the ARM founder, is literally a matter of UK national security.
He sent a letter to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British House of Commons. In it, he stated, in part, that the deal with Nvidia would put an end to ARM as the "Switzerland of the semiconductor industry." His fears are justified, because now ARM, which employs more than 6,500 people, is the leader in the development of chips for various devices. In addition, approximately 3,000 company employees live and work in the UK.
“There is not a single large semiconductor company in the world that does not have an ARM license. Nvidia has the potential to become a quasi-monopoly microprocessor supplier. This deal will give Nvidia a dominant position in all processor segments and create another technology monopoly in the US, when the UK is already concerned about the clandestine influence of Google, Facebook, Netflix and Amazon on its economy, ”says Herman Hauser.
The businessman is also confident that technological sovereignty is the priority of the new era. Given the importance of the ARM infrastructure, the deal to transfer the company to the Americans can be considered a national issue. Most large electronics companies have valid licenses from ARM.
Hauser previously statedthat the deal has three main problems:
- First, ARM's business model is incompatible with Nvidia's current business model. Now the technology of the British company can be licensed with almost no restrictions.
- Second, the purchase of ARM will force current ARM customers and developers to look for an alternative architecture. The problem is that most of the licensees will automatically compete with Nvidia.
- Third, Hauser believes that Nvidia is buying ARM for a specific purpose - to turn the company into a slave unit, destroying it as an independent developer.
Hermann Hauser began to actively oppose the deal as soon as it became known. He launched a campaign called Save ARM. Its main goal is to keep ARM independent from Nvidia.
In addition to Hauser, the largest British union Unite is also against the deal. According to representatives of this organization, the sale of the company to an overseas partner will prevent the development of technology within the UK.
Opponents of the deal also point out that the buyer is likely to move all capacity overseas, and employees from the UK will simply be fired or relocated.
Supporters of this view include UK politicians such as Daniel Zeichner, MP for Cambridge, Edward Miliband, Britain's shadow minister for energy and climate change, and former leader of the Labor Party and parliamentary opposition. and Unite regional representative Matt Whaley.
Several media outlets, including Bloomberg, have expressed doubts that the deal will take place after such an uproar. And not only Hauser and UK policies against ARM's move under Nvidia's wing, US regulators are also unlikely to allow Nvidia to be monopolized. Too many manufacturers from this country, including Intel, AMD and Qualcomm, license ARM technologies.
