What MIPS Technologies does

MIPS Technologies is a semiconductor processor intellectual property (IP) company, founded in 1984 and currently operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of GlobalFoundries following the acquisition completed on August 14, 2025. The company develops RISC-V based processor IP spanning CPU cores (M8500 microcontroller, I8500 data orchestration processor, P8700 application processor), NPUs (S8200 software-first RISC-V NPU and ARC NPX6/NPX6FS up to 3,500 TOPS), and DSP IP (ARC VPX2 through VPX6 with functional safety variants), organized around a 'Sense, Think, Act, Communicate' Physical AI platform architecture. Following the June 2, 2026 completion of GlobalFoundries' acquisition of Synopsys' Processor IP Solutions Business, the MIPS Atlas portfolio also incorporates the ARC, ARC-V, ARC Classic, and ARC VPX families under one umbrella.

The business model is IP licensing and royalties on processor cores and subsystems sold to semiconductor companies and OEMs, complemented by recurring software and tool revenue from MIPS Atlas Explorer (VS Code extension), ASIP Designer, and ASIP Programmer. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales organized regionally across the Americas, EMEA (including dedicated Israel and forthcoming Germany offices), China, Japan, and India, targeting SoC designers in automotive ADAS/autonomy, industrial robotics, data center infrastructure, networking, aerospace/defense, and embedded/edge AI. Named customers include Mobileye (EyeQ SoCs using P8700 cores), ForwardEdge ASIC, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary (S8200 for mission-critical autonomous platforms), and Inova Semiconductors (Atlas M8500 reference platform for robotics).

The company holds functional safety certifications (ISO 26262 ASIL-D on M8500 and NPX6FS, ASIL-B on P8700) and claims deployment in approximately 70% of L2+ front-facing ADAS cameras globally and across more than 28 vehicle models. Post GlobalFoundries ownership, MIPS is positioned as the IP arm of the foundry's Physical AI strategy, with the ability to co-optimize IP and process technology for edge SoC customers.

Name

MIPS Technologies

Legal name

MIPS Tech, LLC

Website

https://mips.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

MIPS Technologies is a RISC-V processor IP company and GlobalFoundries subsidiary that licenses CPU, NPU, and DSP cores to semiconductor and OEM customers building Physical AI platforms for automotive, robotics, and embedded markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Semiconductor IP (Processor IP)

NAICS

Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing (3341)

SIC

Electronic Computers (3571)

akta.pro primary industry

Compute & Acceleration ICs (CPU/GPU/AI/FPGA/ASIC) (HDAHABAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

AI/Neural Processing Units (NPUs) & ML Accelerators (HDAHAJAF), Application Processors & Microprocessors (MPUs/CPUs) (HDAHAJAB), Real-Time & Industrial Control Processors (RT MCUs/PLC-class SoCs) (HDAHAJAL), Audio, Imaging & Multimedia SoCs (ISP/Codec/Display) (HDAHABAH)

Keywords

• RISC-V processor IP
• Neural processing units
• Automotive SoC IP
• Functional safety processors
• Embedded compute platforms

Headquarters

HQ city

San Jose

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Processor IP Licensing: Licensing of RISC-V based processor IP cores (CPU, NPU, DSP) to semiconductor companies and OEMs for integration into their SoC designs. Revenue generated through licensing fees, royalties, and IP delivery.
2. Software and Tools: Sale of software development tools including ASIP Designer, ASIP Programmer, Atlas Explorer, and processor-specific SDKs. Revenue from tool licenses, maintenance, and support services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

MIPS Technologies develops and licenses RISC-V based processor intellectual property (IP) cores spanning CPUs, NPUs, and DSPs, along with supporting software development tools. The MIPS Atlas portfolio targets Physical AI workloads (Sense, Think, Act, Communicate) in automotive, industrial, robotics, data center, and networking markets. Customers are semiconductor companies and OEMs who integrate MIPS IP cores into their own system-on-chip (SoC) designs.

Product overview

MIPS Technologies offers the MIPS Atlas portfolio, an integrated platform of RISC-V processor IP and software tools for Physical AI applications. The core platform consists of MIPS Atlas IP processors organized into four workload categories: M8500 (Act/real-time microcontroller), I8500 (Communicate/data orchestration), P8700 (Sense/data aggregation), and S8200 (Think/NPU) series. This is complemented by the ARC Processor IP sub-brand including ARC-V RISC-V compatible processors (RMX, RHX, RPX families), ARC Classic processors (EM, HS, SEM families), ARC NPX neural processing units (NPX6/NPX6FS up to 3,500 TOPS), and ARC VPX DSP IP (VPX2 through VPX6 with vector lengths from 128-bit to 1024-bit). The software and tools layer includes MIPS Atlas Explorer (VS Code extension for virtual platform development), ASIP Designer (custom processor design tool), and ASIP Programmer (SDK generation for proprietary processors). The platform is designed around the 'Sense, Think, Act, Communicate' signal chain for autonomous edge platforms in automotive, industrial, robotics, and communications infrastructure markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MIPS Atlas IP RISC-V based processor IP portfolio for Physical AI applications covering Sense, Think, Act, and Communicate workloads including M8500, I8500, P8700, and S8200 processor series. Sold to semiconductor companies and OEMs for integration into their SoC designs.
• M8500 Series High-performance 32-bit microcontroller for real-time control applications including motor control, digital power conversion, and battery management with functional safety support (DCLS, ASIL-D, ASIL-B) and 4-thread real-time multithreading. Sold to automotive and industrial SoC designers.
• I8500 Series Award-winning embedded 64-bit data orchestration processor with 4-way simultaneous multithreading, native Linux/RTOS/bare-metal OS support, and scalable multi-cluster architecture for Physical AI communicate workloads. Targets hyperscale, automotive, industrial, and communications markets.
• P8700 Series High-performance multi-core applications processor with 4-issue out-of-order pipeline, 1- or 2-way SMT, ASIL-B functional safety certification for automotive ADAS and autonomous driving SoCs. Deployed in 70% of L2+ front-facing cameras globally and used by Mobileye for EyeQ SoCs.
• S8200 Series Software-first RISC-V NPU for on-device AI inference at autonomous edge, supporting transformer and language models including GPT, LLM, SLM, and VLM with area-dense class-leading efficiency and RISC-V Vector and Matrix Extension support. Selected by ForwardEdge ASIC (Lockheed Martin) for mission-critical autonomous platforms.
• ARC-V Processor IP RISC-V based processor IP extending the ARC portfolio with configurable RMX (ultra-low power), RHX (real-time), and RPX (64-bit host) series, supported by the MetaWare Development Toolkit. Acquired as part of the Synopsys Processor IP Solutions Business and integrated into the MIPS Atlas portfolio.
• ARC Classic Processor IP

Quantifiable outcome

• 5x faster performance and 40% better system throughput through multi-threading innovation for ADAS data movement intensive workloads
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability12 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Synopsys (ARC Processor IP Business)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 June 2026GlobalFoundries completed acquisition of Synopsys' Processor IP Solutions Business including ARC processor IP portfolio. Acquisition strengthens GF's leadership in Physical AI, enhances compute capabilities, expands RISC-V and AI portfolio, software tools, and accelerates custom silicon development. Combines ARC with MIPS to create comprehensive processor IP offering.
• ArteriscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 April 2026Strategic collaboration to accelerate development of next-generation SoC platforms for physical AI applications. MIPS integrates Arteris FlexGen Smart Network-on-Chip IP and Magillem SoC Integration Automation Software into RISC-V processor-based platforms targeting automotive, robotics, and embedded computing markets. Partnership addresses data movement bottlenecks, physical design complexity, and time-to-market pressures.
• Green Hills SoftwarecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 March 2026Collaboration to develop joint Safety Software Development Kit (Safety SDK) for MIPS RISC-V microcontrollers targeting ASIL-D and SIL 3/4 functional safety certification for automotive and industrial applications. Solution combines MIPS M8500 processor architecture with Green Hills certified toolchain and RTOS for safety-critical applications including EVs, motor control, and industrial robotics.
• Inova SemiconductorscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 March 2026Collaboration to build reference Physical AI platform for secure architectures in robotics applications. New platform will be hardware-based and demonstrate physical AI capabilities using MIPS Atlas processors. Partnership enables robotics developers to accelerate time-to-market with pre-validated reference designs.
• SiemensminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 December 2025Strategic collaboration to deploy AI-driven manufacturing to strengthen global semiconductor supply. Leverages both companies' AI-based capabilities for centralized AI-enabled automation, predictive maintenance, and advanced manufacturing optimization.
• QuintauriscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 December 2025Strategic collaboration to enable MIPS Atlas as part of RT-Europa. Quintauris, a leading RISC-V solutions provider, works with MIPS to expand RISC-V adoption in European markets and support ecosystem development for physical AI platforms.
• ForwardEdge ASIC (Lockheed Martin subsidiary)coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerForwardEdge ASIC selected MIPS S8200 processor for mission-critical autonomous platform. First-silicon reference platforms expected in 2027. Aerospace defense application requiring safety-certified, real-time AI processing capabilities.
• MobileyecoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerMobileye uses MIPS P8700 processor for ADAS Sense platform in EyeQ systems-on-chip. Long-standing collaboration with MIPS providing processor IP for ADAS and autonomous vehicles across global automakers.
• RISC-V InternationalcoreTechnology or IntegrationRISC-V International is a global nonprofit association (based in Switzerland) with 2k+ members in 70+ countries that maintains and develops the RISC-V open standard ISA. MIPS contributes to RISC-V ecosystem and standards development.
• ImperasDVcoreTechnology or IntegrationLeading provider of RISC-V processor models and virtual prototypes. Imperas provides processor models supporting MIPS RISC-V IP for hardware design verification and software simulation.
• LauterbachcoreTechnology or IntegrationWorld's leading manufacturer of debug and trace tools. Lauterbach fully supports MIPS ARC-V Processor IP with TRACE32 tools as a result of close collaboration between engineering teams.
• TASKINGcoreTechnology or IntegrationTASKING provides system-level verification and debugging tools for ARC-V IP, available for simulation with MIPS Virtualizer Development Kit or implemented in FPGA or silicon. Working with MIPS and automotive customers for ISO 26262 and ISO 21434 compliance.
• Arteris (NoC Interconnect)coreTechnology or IntegrationArteris provides system IP for accelerating SoC development. FlexNoC and Ncore network-on-chip IP used with MIPS ARC-V Processor IP to deliver optimized IP solutions and SoC connectivity to mutual customers.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• SiFive: Leading RISC-V application processor and CPU IP core provider, the most direct comparable to MIPS in the RISC-V IP licensing market, with overlapping target markets in automotive, edge AI, and embedded computing, and a similar IP-licensing plus tools revenue model.
• Andes Technology: RISC-V CPU IP core vendor focused on embedded, IoT, and AI edge use cases, overlapping with MIPS' Atlas portfolio (M8500, P8700, I8500) and competing for similar low-power application processor design slots.
• Imagination Technologies: GPU and AI accelerator IP vendor (PowerVR, NNA) with overlapping customer base in automotive and edge AI SoCs; also the prior owner of MIPS (2017-2018), giving it direct familiarity with this category.
• Ceva, Inc. Licensing IP vendor specializing in DSPs (Ceva-XC, NeuPro), wireless/connectivity, and AI NPUs, directly overlapping with MIPS' VPX DSP and ARC NPX families in audio, vision, and ADAS use cases.
• VeriSilicon: Semiconductor IP and chip design services platform offering Vivante GPU IP, VPU, NPU, and DSP IP, serving the same China and global IoT/automotive/edge AI SoC customers as MIPS.

Broad incumbents

• Arm: Dominant incumbent in CPU IP licensing (Cortex-A, Cortex-M, Cortex-R) serving the same automotive, embedded, and AI accelerator SoC customers as MIPS; represents MIPS' primary alternative-architecture competitor in design wins.
• Cadence Design Systems (Tensilica / DesignWare IP): Provides DSP and embedded processor IP (Tensilica HiFi, ConnX, Vision) plus broader EDA, comparable to MIPS' VPX DSP and ARC Classic IP offerings; a toolchain and IP partner/competitor across audio, vision, and AI workloads.

Others

• Arteris: Network-on-chip interconnect IP and SoC integration software vendor (FlexNoC, FlexGen, Magillem) — currently a strategic MIPS partner for Physical AI SoCs, and a complementary (rather than competing) infrastructure IP vendor in the same SoC design wins.

Emerging players

• Tenstorrent: RISC-V based AI accelerator and processor IP company selling Ascalon CPU and AI IP into the same data-center and edge AI SoC design slots where MIPS competes with its P8700 and S8200 NPUs.
• Esperanto Technologies: RISC-V based AI processor and IP provider targeting high-performance inference and machine learning workloads, occupying an adjacent position to MIPS' S8200 NPU and Atlas platform in edge and data-center AI.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/login
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mips-technologies

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MIPS Technologies