Has x86 lost the data center battle? Arm claims victory as it declares close to 50 percent of compute shipped to top hyperscalers in 2025 will be Arm-based

 Has x86 lost the data center battle? Arm claims victory as it declares close to 50 percent of compute shipped to top hyperscalers in 2025 will be Arm-based

Published on April 5, 2025 | Category: tech

Has x86 lost the data center battle? Arm claims victory as it declares close to 50 percent of compute shipped to top hyperscalers in 2025 will be Arm-based

News
By Wayne Williams published

AI demand is behind the Neoverse architecture's meteoric rise

Concept image of Arm chip
(Image credit: Shutterstock / gguy)

  • Arm says Neoverse powers nearly half of 2025 hyperscaler compute shipments
  • AI growth makes power-efficiency essential for hyperscale data centers
  • AWS, Google, Microsoft are leading shift from x86 to Arm infrastructure

Arm says its Neoverse platform is becoming the architecture of choice for the cloud, as the likes of AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and others drive a broader shift away from x86 in the data center.

Mohamed Awad, SVP and GM of the Infrastructure Business at Arm, says power efficiency and scalability are redefining infrastructure at hyperscale. “Just over six years ago, we launched Arm Neoverse for the next-generation of cloud infrastructure, recognizing a world where delivering new levels of scalable performance on top of Arm’s flexible and power-efficient compute platform could enable a systemic shift in the capabilities and costs of the data center ecosystem,” he explained.

“Fast forward to today, the adoption of Neoverse has reached new heights: close to 50 percent of the compute shipped to top hyperscalers in 2025 will be Arm-based,” he added. Much of this momentum can, inevitably, be attributed to the rise of AI.

AI servers set to grow by 300 percent

AI is reshaping cloud infrastructure, driving explosive growth in compute demand and forcing hyperscalers to prioritize power efficiency at massive scale. Data centers are being designed in gigawatts, not megawatts, making efficiency a requirement rather than a differentiator, something that has been central to Arm's architecture for decades.

That's not the only reason for the architecture's success of course.

"The Arm compute platform is additionally giving our partners the flexibility to create a new generation of customized, differentiated silicon solutions for AI. For example, Nvidia’s Grace Blackwell superchip for AI-based infrastructure combines Nvidia’s Blackwell GPU accelerated computing architecture with the Arm Neoverse-based Grace CPU, integrated with an extraordinarily high bandwidth, coherent mesh network – a system tailor-made to achieve unmatched performance for AI workloads," Awad says.

With ten of the world’s largest hyperscalers developing and deploying Arm-based chips, the future looks bright for the company - but that dynamic could shift if, as rumored, Arm decides to produce its own silicon.

Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Speculation on that front gained signifcant momentum after Arm’s Japanese owner, SoftBank, acquired Arm-based chipmaker Ampere for $6.5 billion, raising concerns that Arm could end up competing directly with its partners in the fast-growing data center market.

You might also like

  • Softbank buying Ampere for $6.5 billion and could integrate it with Arm
  • Is an AMD Arm superchip in the works?
  • Arm wants to build its own CPU server for hyperscalers, reports say
TOPICS
Wayne Williams
Wayne Williams
Editor

Wayne Williams is a freelancer writing news for TechRadar Pro. He has been writing about computers, technology, and the web for 30 years. In that time he wrote for most of the UK’s PC magazines, and launched, edited and published a number of them too.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

More about pro
Topton laptop

This dual screen laptop has something I've never seen in any notebook: a retractable hidden touchpad

Neon blue email symbols on a black background

8 tips for effective email outreach: finding success

Latest
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge on display at Galaxy Unpacked

I'm excited for the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge and iPhone 17 Air, but I'm worried they'll make too many compromises

See more latest
Most Popular
Topton laptop
This dual screen laptop has something I've never seen in any notebook: a retractable hidden touchpad
The Onn Google TV 4K Streamer and its remote sit next to each other on a white surface, with a colorful background behind them
Leaked Walmart Google TV box could replace the Chromecast-shaped gap in your TV setup
NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background
NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, April 6 (game #665)
NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, April 6 (game #399)
Quordle on a smartphone held in a hand
Quordle hints and answers for Sunday, April 6 (game #1168)
Robert Downey Jr reveals himself as Doctor Doom to a delighted crowd at San Diego Comic-Con 2024
Avengers: Doomsday – release date, confirmed cast, and everything else we know so far about the highly anticipated Marvel movie
Microsoft
Look out for tax-themed scams this month, Microsoft warns
Image of a woman looking at records in a record store
Record Store Day 2025: the full list, plus 5 great albums you need to bag on April 12
google assistant
A Google Assistant bug seems to be causing some users to miss alarms and calls on Android
Zuckerberg Meta AI
South Korea's hottest AI hardware startup reportedly said no to $800m acquisition by Meta

Related Articles

Spotify is about to be flooded with AI-made ads, and I wonder if it will make much of a difference to businesses

Spotify’s new AI-powered ad tool may not be the solution they claim....

Read More
CinemaCon 2025 live – first Avatar 3 reaction, juicy Fantastic Four news,

CinemaCon 2025 is officially underway – here are all new movie announc...

Read More
NYT Wordle today — answer and my hints for game #1385, Friday, April 4

Looking for Wordle hints? I can help. Plus get the answers to Wordle t...

Read More