- MIPS once rivaled Intel and ARM, but now he is trying to import again in AI Chips
- From NASA probes to game consoles, MIPS formed modern computer science in silence before fading
- Thirty years after leading Risc, Mips is still looking for a stable business model
MIPS, once a central player in the early RISC revolution and a rival for a long time for the arm, has once again changed hands.
This time, in a somewhat ironic turn, the company has been acquired by Globalfoundries, the chips manufacturer separated from AMD.
The acquisition indicates another chapter in the complex and turbulent history of MIPS, a firm whose legacy extends from CPU of the Early Work Station to feed the original PlayStation of Sony.
A legacy before modern reference points
Decades before someone asked what is the best portable computer for video edition or the best GPU, MIPS was already changing the rules.
The company’s trip began in 1986 when the R2000 MIPS became the first commercial CPU to implement the MIPS instructions set and one of the first RISC -based architecture examples that is sold under a license model.
John Hennessy, a professor at Stanford University and co -creator of architecture, directed the initiative to offer an alternative to Dominant CISC designs of Intel and Motorola.
The R2000 was compact for its time, which contained around 110,000 transistors, and delivered watch speeds up to 15MHz.
Although he never achieved Intel market penetration, MIPS forged notable successes.
The R3000, introduced two years after the R2000, fed everything, from silicon graphics work stations to the first generation of Sony PlayStation.
He even guided the investigation of NASA’s new horizons through his Pluto steering wheel and to Kuiper’s belt.
Despite his darkness in today’s conversations, MIPS persisted silently in key integrated applications.
“MIPS provides a strong inheritance of the delivery of efficient and scalable IP adapted for critical performance applications,” said Coo Niels Anderskauv of Globalfoundries.
MIPS property has frequently changed, revealing a company in search of a stable base.
After being acquired by Silicon Graphics in the 1990s, it passed through the hands of imagination technologies, Tallwood Ventures and Wave Computing.
He re-emerged after bankruptcy in 2020 with a pivot towards the Open Risc-V architecture, a movement that many saw as an attempt to recover relevance in an era increasingly dominated by open standards.
However, Mips Evocore series fought to impress, which led the company to launch its range of Atlas nuclei and the Atlas Explorer platform aimed at performance optimization.
With Globalfoundries acquiring the company, the narrative changes again.
MIPS will now operate as an independent unit focused on AI, autonomous mobility and industrial advantage.
Sameer Wasson, CEO of MIPS, says, “become part of Globalfoundries marks the beginning of a new bold chapter for MIPS.”
Even so, it remains skepticism, particularly given the uncertain path of the broader RISC-V ecosystem.
Through Eenewseurope
