February 15, 2026
Silicon soap opera: who gets the cake?
Arm wants a bigger slice of the chip business
Cash grab or survival play? Open chips, AI hype, and royalty rumbles
TLDR: Arm wants to move beyond small royalties as AI heats up, aiming for a bigger payday from its chip designs. Commenters split: some warn open “RISC‑V” chips backed by Asia could undercut Arm, others say Arm already earns what it deserves, while a third camp says do both—license and build tighter AI hardware partnerships.
Arm is the ghost kitchen of chips—its recipes power most phones, but it doesn’t cook a single chip. With AI fever spiking, the company reportedly wants a bigger slice than its usual upfront fee plus tiny per-chip royalty. Translation: from a sprinkle of royalties to a bigger bite of the cake. And the comments? Absolutely on fire.
One camp is yelling “watch your back!” as alephnerd points to governments in China, India, and South Korea pushing open “RISC‑V” designs to avoid being tied to any one vendor. In other words: while Arm eyes more cash, rivals are quietly setting the table elsewhere. Someone even dropped receipts via an archive link to keep the debate spicy.
Then came the value drama. A long‑time subscriber, intrasight, claps back at the article’s framing: “No, they capture exactly the value they create.” Shots fired at the idea that Arm deserves more just because AI is hot. Meanwhile, Nevermark asks how chipmakers stay relevant as regular processors (the brain) must team up with AI helpers called NPUs. Their take: Arm needs integrated options—and a business model glow‑up. Cue ggm’s meme‑ready line: “Porque no los dos?” Keep licensing and go deeper with foundries and AI hardware. The vibe: popcorn out, lines drawn, and everyone arguing who gets paid in the AI gold rush.
Key Points
- •Arm’s designs power almost all smartphones and many connected devices worldwide.
- •Arm does not manufacture chips; it licenses designs to customers who produce the chips.
- •The company’s revenue model combines upfront licence fees with slim per-chip royalties.
- •Over 300 billion Arm-based chips have shipped to date, including more than 30 billion last year.
- •Arm is British-based, American-listed, and Japanese-controlled, and AI is prompting it to reassess its model.