Arm Holdings, the global chip design powerhouse owned by SoftBank Group, has announced plans to establish a dedicated chip design training facility in South Korea under an agreement with the country national industry ministry.

The new centre will focus on developing advanced semiconductor design capabilities by training around 1400 specialist engineers. The initiative is aligned with South Korea wider strategy to reinforce its system semiconductor and fabless ecosystem as artificial intelligence accelerates demand for high performance and energy efficient chip architectures.

By partnering with the government, Arm aims to expand access to its architecture, tools and design expertise, helping to nurture the next generation of chip designers who will power future AI, automotive, consumer electronics and industrial applications.

South Korea is already a global leader in memory semiconductors. However, the country has been intensifying efforts to strengthen its presence in logic chips and fabless design to create a more balanced and resilient semiconductor ecosystem.

Industry leaders view the move as a strategic investment in talent at a time when chip design skills are becoming as critical as fabrication capacity. With AI workloads reshaping the technology landscape, advanced design capabilities are now central to national competitiveness.

The Arm training facility is expected to play a pivotal role in accelerating South Korea transition from a manufacturing led semiconductor powerhouse to a full spectrum innovation hub spanning design, development and production.