Baikal Electronics and Baikal-M1 Processor IP Up for Auction
The assets of Baikal Electronics, including its intellectual property, are up for auction after the company was declared bankrupt by a Moscow court. The company is controlled by T-Platforms, which also owns Russian chip foundry TSMC partner T-Platforms. The auction is scheduled for September 26, 2023.
Baikal Electronics is one of the few designers of CPUs and system-on-chips from Russia. The Moscow-based company previously worked with TSMC on 28nm and 32nm process nodes, with the chip designer receiving orders for its Baikal-M1 and Baikal-S processors.
However, Baikal's work with TSMC led to complications due to the export curbs imposed by the Taiwanese government following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The current owners of Baikal Electronics have no plans to reclaim the patents or developments, according to their statements.
The technology being auctioned is largely outdated, with the Baikal-M1 processor based on eight outdated Arm Cortex-A57 cores. The 48-core Baikal-S SoC for servers never entered mass production.
The total value of the assets is estimated at $5 million. T-Platforms had been among the few Russian companies capable of producing supercomputers that could compete on a global scale.
The bankruptcy proceedings have led to the auctioning of various assets, including the intellectual property, patents, and shares of Baikal Electronics. The auction is scheduled for September 26, 2023.
