SoftBank Corp. and Ampere to Launch Joint Validation to Improve Operational Efficiency of Small-scale AI Models Using CPUs

SoftBank Corp. began a joint validation project with Ampere^® Computing LLC, a U.S.-based semiconductor company, to improve the operational efficiency of AI models running on CPUs, one of the key components for next-generation AI infrastructure.

In this joint validation, SoftBank is combining its under-development Orchestrator—which manages compute resources and optimally allocates AI models—with Ampere CPUs designed for AI inference processing. Together, they confirmed that CPUs can be effectively used as compute resources for AI inference. By running Small Language Models commonly used in AI agents and inference models, such as Mixture of Experts, on CPUs, it is possible to optimize AI model operations and improve the utilization efficiency of compute resources.

Read the full press release here.
https://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/news/press/sbkk/2026/20260217_01/