The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has wrapped up its examination of SoftBank Group's proposed acquisition of semiconductor design firm Ampere and issued a permit for the "early termination of the waiting period." This move clears a significant obstacle for the $6.5 billion all-cash transaction. The acquisition represents a pivotal move in SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son's strategy to bolster capabilities in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Ampere is renowned for its expertise in designing and developing server processors and stands as a prominent licensing customer of Arm's core technology. Notably, SoftBank already holds a controlling stake in Arm. Son has expressed that, following investments in Arm, Graphcore, and now Ampere, SoftBank will secure essential technologies for the production of artificial intelligence chips, aligning with its long-term vision in the AI sector.