Graphcore to Invest $1.3Bn in India, Opens First Bengaluru Office & Plans 500 Hires

UK-based AI accelerators manufacturer Graphcore, said it will invest $1.3 billion over the next ten years in India and establish its first local office in Bengaluru, the company’s CEO Nigel Toon told ET.

The move marks Graphcore’s formal entry into India’s chip-design ecosystem and is aimed at tapping the country’s engineering talent pool for semiconductor AI work.

In the first phase, Graphcore will recruit about 100 semiconductor AI engineers in Bengaluru and expects to scale the team to roughly 500 people over the next two years, Toon said. The company also plans to roughly double headcount in the UK to some 750 employees in the same timeframe.

Manufacturing Model

Graphcore designs intelligence processing units (IPUs) for data-centre AI workloads. It says its IPUs deliver higher efficiency for certain AI tasks than conventional GPUs.

The firm outsources chip fabrication to Taiwan’s TSMC, acknowledging that Graphcore’s cutting-edge nodes currently require foundry capabilities that exist outside India. “We are coming because we see the opportunity with the talent, with Bengaluru as a location to really be able to build a long-term investment here,” Toon said.

Acquired by SoftBank in 2024, Graphcore’s India push aligns with SoftBank’s wider investments in AI infrastructure, including projects such as the Stargate initiative that involve major cloud and compute players.

Toon said recent government-level India–UK engagements and trade talks have helped clarify IP and talent-mobility issues, easing the company’s plans to bring specialists to India to train local teams.

Why India?

Toon argued India offers a cost-competitive, deep pool of silicon design and systems engineering talent compared with Silicon Valley. “So, today, you might say maybe India's a little bit behind but my expectation is India will catch up and so that just creates an opportunity for (companies like) us,” he said. Graphcore expects its investment to both feed and benefit from an expanding domestic chip-design ecosystem.

Graphcore will base its India operations in Bengaluru and proceed with recruitment and local team building immediately, while continuing to rely on TSMC for wafer production. The company said it will monitor India’s evolving manufacturing capabilities for possible future onshore production as the local ecosystem matures.

Founded in 2016 in Bristol, Graphcore builds IPUs for AI data centres and competes with established GPU makers. SoftBank acquired the company in 2024 and has committed substantial capital to AI compute infrastructure globally. Graphcore already operates in the UK, Poland and the US; the Bengaluru office will be its first permanent footprint in India.