Arm reportedly wrests back control of its rogue China limb

SoftBank-owned chip designer Arm has reportedly regained control of its Chinese joint venture. The Chinese arm has been of concern since June 2020 when CEO Alan Wu was fired over conflicts of interest. SoftBank owns 49 per cent of the Chinese venture, and as a minority stakeholder could not order Wu's removal. One was Wu's strategy to experiment with Arm tech and to explore the creation of entirely new designs - a direction that saw one semiconductor analyst label Arm China as "Completely rogue" and Wu as having conducted a "Heist" of Arm's IP. As Chinese firms credibly stand accused of stealing and repurposing IP from around the world, those allegations were not fanciful. The other reason SoftBank wanted to be rid of Wu was that Arm China's uncertain status made it hard for the firm to launch an initial public offering of Arm. SoftBank execs have reportedly been appointed as Arm China's senior officers. The Register has sought comment from Arm, Arm China, and SoftBank, to confirm the situation and will update this story if we receive substantive comment.