LONDON, July 12 Reuters Japan39;s SoftBank Group has bought artificial intelligence chipmaker Graphcore for an undisclosed sum, ending longrunning speculation over the company39;s future.

Once touted as a rival to Nvidia, which has seen its own valuation skyrocket thanks to soaring demand for AI computer chips, Britain39;s Graphcore has struggled to secure the investment needed to compete.

Valued at 2.77 billion at the end of 2020, a filing published last year revealed Graphcore needed more cash to break even, after cutting its headcount by a fifth to 494 employees, and shutting down operations in Norway, Japan, and South Korea.

Speaking at a media briefing on Thursday, cofounder and CEO Nigel Toon said the SoftBank deal would provide Graphcore with the resources needed to compete at a global level, but conceded the company had faced difficulties.

The piece that surprised us was the speed at which this has taken off, and the scale that is involved, Toon said.

This is a level of investment that is utterly massive. Graphcore, as a modestlysized company compared to those we39;re competing with, has actually managed to go toetotoe and build worldclass technology.

Toon, who will stay on in his role, declined to comment when asked how much SoftBank had paid for the company.

Reflecting on the state of the British tech industry, Toon cited British pension funds39; historic unwillingness to invest in fastgrowing startups as a barrier to growth.

There39;s a massive…