Graphcore – a SoftBank Group company – to invest 1bn in India, creating 500 semiconductor jobs

By Nigel Toon. Co-Founder and Executive Chairman

BRISTOL, England, Oct. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Graphcore, a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank Group, is opening a new AI Engineering Campus in Bengaluru, creating 500 new semiconductor jobs, with an investment of up to £1bn over the next decade.

The AI Engineering Campus will play a central role in Graphcore’s work, building the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing, helping to realize SoftBank Group’s vision of becoming the leading Artificial Super Intelligence platform provider.

We are immediately starting to hire the first 100 AI semiconductor engineering roles in India, including Silicon Logical Design, Physical Design, Verification, Characterization and Bring-up. 

Graphcore’s presence in India is made possible by the ongoing investment of SoftBank Group into our company. That is expected to reach £1bn per annum, in the next couple of years – and will also see a doubling in Graphcore’s headcount in the UK to around 750 people, mainly highly skilled silicon engineering, software and AI engineering roles.

Since acquiring Graphcore in 2024, SoftBank Group has announced a series of AI compute infrastructure initiatives, including the $500bn Stargate infrastructure project, in partnership with OpenAI and Oracle.

Graphcore’s engineers in Bengaluru will be developing semiconductor products for use by the world’s leading AI practitioners – to help solve global challenges in drug discovery and public health, environmental sustainability and to improve business productivity.

Across its wider operations, SoftBank Group has invested more than $12bn in India over the past decade.

India’s Silicon Valley

The decision to locate Graphcore’s new AI Engineering Campus in Bengaluru was an easy one. Even in a country filled with technology engineering talent, Bengaluru stands out.

The ecosystem of world-class universities, high-growth startups, and established multinational technology has earned it the nickname ‘India’s Silicon Valley’.

Both the Indian Government and Prime Minister Modi have demonstrated a deep understanding of the economic value of the semiconductor sector, creating a number of national initiatives to foster the specialist skills that the industry requires. We hope that Graphcore will play a role in helping to build that national capability.

Graphcore’s culture of innovation

Graphcore was founded in Bristol, UK in 2016 to develop a complete AI compute stack, including silicon, datacenter infrastructure and software, and was acquired by SoftBank Group in 2024.

Today, we have access to the resources of the SoftBank ecosystem, including the complementary skills of its other portfolio companies, and its network of AI innovators and infrastructure providers.

We maintain the culture of a startup, where everyone’s ideas can have an impact, and where we move fast to take advantage of emerging opportunities.

Join the Graphcore journey

As we build out Graphcore’s AI Engineering Campus in Bengaluru, we are interested in hearing from semiconductor engineers of all levels – from recent graduates to those with more industry experience.

We will shortly be announcing a series of events in the city, where you can meet with Graphcore representatives in-person to discuss the many opportunities.

In the meantime, to register your interest, please visit: https://www.graphcore.ai/Bengaluru

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