The UK’s AI chip producer, Graphcore, is contemplating a transition to international ownership.

The Telegraph has revealed that Graphcore is currently negotiating with significant tech corporations to broker a deal that would inject new funds to mitigate extensive financial deficits. Moreover, the option to sell off completely is also on the table.

Potential acquirers include the UK’s semiconductor firm Arm, Japan’s tech conglomerate SoftBank, and the artificial intelligence entity OpenAI. It remains to be seen how far the talks for sale have progressed. The Telegraph also suggests that deliberations on additional venture capital investments could be happening alongside the considerations for selling the company.

In December, Chrysalis, an investment fund headquartered in London and a financier of Graphcore, revealed that negotiations were underway for the sale of one of its portfolio entities. Following a substantial markdown, both Chrysalis and Baillie Gifford, another financier, reportedly increased the valuation of their investment in Graphcore. Meanwhile, Sequoia, an additional investor, is said to have decreased its stake’s value in the startup to nil.

The potential sale of Graphcore to overseas interests is expected to undergo rigorous examination by national security organizations, given the critical importance of AI technology, the Telegraph highlights.

Graphcore was valued at a notable $2.8 billion by the end of 2020 and has managed to raise over $700 million from major investors including Microsoft and venture capital giant Sequoia based in Silicon Valley.

But when it comes to selling its intelligence processing units, Graphcore has struggled due to strong competition from Nvidia selling its own GPUs. However, Graphcore asserts that it’s working on different technology compared to Nvidia by building graph processors instead of GPUs which have unique pros and cons. Despite these differences, both companies vie for the same financial allocations.

2022 was not a favorable financial year for the chipmaker as its losses increased by 11% during the period, reaching $204.6 million, while revenue fell from $5 million to $2.7 million. The company projected it would possess $157 million in cash reserves by year-end, necessitating additional fundraising by May, as per the Telegraph.

Moreover, Graphcore has recently exited the Chinese market, reportedly due to the constraints imposed by US export regulations.