Chipmaker onsemi announced it has agreed to acquire Synaptics as part of an all-stock transaction for about $7 billion in a push to bolster its position in physical artificial intelligence.
The purchase “would accelerate onsemi’s evolution toward global leadership in intelligent systems,” the Arizona-based company said in a news release June 25. “By adding Synaptics’ differentiated Edge AI compute franchise and strong portfolio of human-machine interface and wireless connectivity solutions, onsemi is expected to extend its capabilities beyond power and sensing to intelligent systems, delivering greater value to a broad range of end markets.”
Onsemi added that the combined platform will build on its automotive, industrial and AI data center expertise and position the company “at the center” of physical artificial intelligence. This could expand its total available market by $30 billion to $243 billion by 2030, it said.
“As artificial intelligence moves beyond the cloud and into the physical world, including automotive and industrial, the next phase of innovation will depend on systems that can sense, decide, act and adapt in real time,” onsemi President and CEO Hassane El-Khoury said in a statement.
“This shift towards physical AI will require power, sense, connected compute and control to work together seamlessly,” he said. “The addition of Synaptics helps position onsemi at the intersection of these four pillars, enabling us to capture a significantly larger AI opportunity that extends beyond AI data center and into edge applications.”
For example, onsemi said the combination would “enable systems that can sense, decide, act and adapt in real time across Physical AI applications,” including autonomous driving, robotics and augmented and virtual reality. The transaction also would increase onsemi’s connected compute capabilities and expand its software and ecosystem reach, per the news release.
Under the terms of the agreement, which both companies’ boards of directors have unanimously approved, Synaptics stockholders will receive 1.35 shares of onsemi common stock for each share of Synaptics common stock held at the time of closing, “implying pro forma ownership of about 12% for Synaptics stockholders on a fully diluted basis,” the news release said. As part of the transaction, one member of Synaptics’ board of directors is expected to join onsemi’s board of directors.
Synaptics offers “a broad portfolio of edge compute, connectivity, interface and sensing solutions,” said President and CEO Rahul Paul on an earnings call June 25. He added that the company recently has focused on “AI-native compute and connectivity while extending our leadership in human machine interfaces into new physical AI applications.”
“As intelligence moves from the data center to the physical world, the convergence of these technologies is becoming increasingly important and we have built strong and strategic relationships with companies leading AI at the edge,” he said.
According to Paul, Synaptics’ Astra platform has been central to its AI strategy, under which it has developed “AI-native microprocessors and microcontrollers that integrate multiple compute engines.”
“We have architected the platform for performance, power efficiency and scalability with an open source and developer-friendly software framework and tools that simplify deployment of AI models across a broad range of applications,” he said.
In May 2025, Onsemi bid to acquire chip developer Allegro MicroSystems for $6.9 billion, or $35.10 per share. At the time, both companies had been battling declining revenue, with Onsemi’s annual revenue down 14% year over year amid a downturn in automotive demand due to the Trump administration’s tariffs and reevaluation of electric vehicle tax credits.
