SoftBank Group subsidiary Arm is planning to launch artificial intelligence chips by next year, according to a Nikkei Asia report, as the battle for AI chip dominance intensifies.

The U.K.-based chip designer, in which SoftBank has a 90% stake, will set up an AI chip unit to build a prototype by spring 2025, according to the report on Sunday.

SoftBank is in discussion with contract manufacturers including Taiwan’s TSMC to produce the AI chips, the report added. Mass production is slated to begin in the fall of 2025.

Arm designs the fundamental architecture upon which the chips are built. It then sells licenses for its designs to companies such as Qualcomm and Nvidia, charging royalty fees on each sale they make. The company claims 99% of premium smartphones are powered by Arm technology.

The company will bear the initial development costs of the AI chips, which could reach “hundreds of billions of yen,” according to the report. After a mass-production system has been set up, Arm’s AI chip business could be “spun off and placed under SoftBank.”

Arm shares have risen nearly 45% so far this year, and its market capitalization stands at over $113 billion, according to LSEG data. The company was acquired by SoftBank in 2016 for $32 billion, and was listed on the Nasdaq last year.

Founded and helmed by Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, SoftBank is betting big on AI and reportedly plans to invest $960 million by next year to boost its computing facilities for generative AI. In June, Son said SoftBank wants to “be [in] the leading position for the AI revolution.”

SoftBank is looking to build AI data centers, powered by homegrown chips, across the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East as soon as 2026, Nikkei said.

SoftBank is set to report its earnings for the fiscal year ended March 31 on Monday.

Read the full report on Nikkei Asia.

A federal judge in California dismissed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s X against Israel’s Bright Data, in a case that involved the scraping of public online data and its appropriate uses.

X, formerly Twitter, sued Bright Data, alleging the company “scrapes data from X” and sells it “using elaborate technical measures to evade X Corp.’s anti-scraping technology.” X also claimed the company violated its terms of service and copyright.

Data scraping occurs when automated programs scour publicly accessible websites to collect data, which can later be used for a wide range of purposes, including training artificial intelligence models and targeting online ads. The practice is generally legal in the U.S. when it involves scraping publicly accessible data, according to a 2022 ruling that capped off an extended legal battle involving LinkedIn.

X was previously seeking more than $1 million in damages from unknown defendants over “unlawfully scraping data associated with Texas residents,” according to a suit that was filed in Dallas County.

In dismissing the complaint, Judge William Alsup wrote, “X Corp. wants it both ways: to keep its safe harbors yet exercise a copyright owner’s right to exclude, wresting fees from those who wish to extract and copy X users’ content.”

Giving social networks complete control over the collection and use of public web data “risks the possible creation of information monopolies that would disserve the public interest,” the judge wrote. He added that X was not “looking to protect X users’ privacy,” and was “happy to allow the extraction and copying of X users’ content so long as it gets paid.”

A representative for X didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meta previously filed a complaint against Bright Data and was similarly unsuccessful.

Bright Data said in an emailed statement that its victories against Meta and X show that public information online “belongs to all of us, and any attempt to deny the public access will fail.”

“What is happening now is unprecedented, the implications impact general business, research, AI and beyond,” the company said.

Bright Data says it only scrapes publicly available data that’s visible to anyone without a login. At the time of the suit’s filing, X made the information Bright Data scraped available to anyone.

Climate protesters angry about Tesla’s plans to expand its Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory in Germany tried to break into the plant on Friday, according to a statement from local police.

“Multiple unauthorized people are trying to enter the ground of the Tesla factory,” Brandenburg police said via X Friday. “We are in the process of preventing this.”

“The situation is dynamic,” a Brandenburg police spokesperson told CNBC Friday, adding that there have been multiple roadblocks in the area due to the demonstrations.

A Tesla spokesperson was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

Since Monday, a camp has been set up near the Tesla grounds at its Brandenburg plant, with participation increasing since Wednesday and peaking on a German bank holiday Thursday, police said.

Protest gatherings were planned for Friday, one stationary near the Tesla factory grounds and another involving a procession from the camp, the Brandenburg police spokesperson told CNBC.

However, disruptions ensued, including attempts to breach the Tesla premises and sit-in blockades on roads, leading to roadblocks, the spokesperson said.

Protesters also occupied a nearby airfield in the Neuhardenberg municipality, lighting pyrotechnics and blocking access roads, according to the police.

Police intervened, leading to multiple arrests and instances of force. The police operation involved support from neighboring states and national forces, the spokesperson added.

CNN reported on Wednesday that Tesla asked its workers to stay home rather than come into the factory Friday due to concerns over the protests surrounding its Brandenburg plant.

André Thierig, a senior manufacturing director at the Tesla factory, confirmed via X on Tuesday that the electric car maker was shuttering production Friday in a “one-day planned production shutdown.”

Tesla is pursuing a major expansion for its battery and car assembly factory in Brandenburg, Germany, about 32 miles south of Berlin.

Tesla’s planned expansion includes designs for a rail freight depot and storage facilities that could help it avoid reliance on other logistics providers and avoid production pauses due to parts shortages.

Locals in February voted against authorizing the factory expansion. However, the vote was nonbinding and Tesla and local officials still intend to push ahead.

Climate protesters have expressed concerns about Tesla’s plans, which entail cutting down approximately 250 acres of forest in a rural community of fewer than 8,000 residents near a nature conservation area.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has previously lashed out at protesters targeting Tesla’s German Gigafactory, saying on X in March they’re “either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they’re puppets of those who don’t have good environmental goals.”

— CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report