The ARM's co-founder said it would be disastrous if the British tech were sold to an American computer company that is reportedly negotiating an acquisition. It is the second time in four years that the future of the Cambridge-based chip designer has been uncertain.

It's the second time in four years that the future of Cambridge-based chip-designer ARM Holdings has been uncertain. In 2016, Softbank ended up buying it. But the Japanese firm is now reportedly in advanced talks to sell it to Nvidia.

Hermann Hauser told the BBC he thought the UK government should intervene. The tech entrepreneur - who spun off ARM from Acorn Computers in 1990 - says ministers should help make it an independent UK business again. 

Four years on, after a number of big bets went wrong for the Japanese firm - notably its investment in the shared office space business WeWork - SoftBank wants to dispose of ARM, either returning it to the stock market through a share sale or letting another organisation buy it outright.

In recent days, there have been a number of reports that Nvidia - which recently overtook Intel to become the world's most valuable chip-maker - is keen to buy it. The last weekend in July, I contacted Dr Hauser who spends the UK's winters in New Zealand and remained there because of the coronavirus pandemic.

He told that a sale of ARM to Nvidia would be a disaster, but thought it very unlikely to happen. This past weekend he got back in touch to say the reports now looked very credible and his concern had deepened.

Dr Hauser also voted against the Softbank deal in 2016.

ARM Co-Founder Says: Selling ARM to NVIDIA would be a disaster