Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) revealed its latest advancements in artificial intelligence processors on Monday, outlining an ambitious two-year development plan aimed at challenging industry leader Nvidia. During the Computex technology trade show in Taipei, AMD CEO Lisa Su introduced the MI325X accelerator, slated for release in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The increasing demand for generative AI programs has created a significant need for advanced chips capable of supporting complex AI data center applications. Nvidia currently dominates the AI semiconductor market, commanding about 80% of the share. In response, AMD has committed to an annual release cycle for its AI products, mirroring Nvidia's strategy.
"AI is clearly our number one priority as a company and we have really harnessed all of the development capability within the company to do that," Su told reporters. "This annual cadence is something that is there because the market requires newer products and newer capabilities... Every year we have the next big thing such that we always have the most competitive portfolio."
In addition to the MI325X, AMD introduced the MI350 series, expected in 2025, which will feature a new chip architecture and is anticipated to deliver 35 times better performance in AI inference tasks compared to the current MI300 series. Furthermore, AMD announced the MI400 series, set for a 2026 release, based on an architecture called "Next".
This announcement follows Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's unveiling of the Rubin platform, also expected in 2026, which will include GPUs, CPUs, and networking chips. The competition between AMD and Nvidia is intensifying as both companies aim to capture a larger share of the booming AI chip market.
Despite AMD's aggressive push into AI, Nvidia's market performance remains strong. While AMD shares remained flat on Monday, Nvidia's shares increased by over 3%. Since the start of 2023, AMD's value has more than doubled, yet this growth is overshadowed by Nvidia's more than seven-fold increase during the same period.
"While the proof will be in the pudding, there's no doubt that AMD is taking Nvidia heads-on and companies looking for alternatives to Nvidia are bound to be happy to hear what AMD had to say," commented Bob O'Donnell, chief analyst at Technalysis Research.
AMD's Su had previously projected AI chip sales of approximately $4 billion for 2024, an increase of $500 million from earlier estimates. At the Computex event, AMD also mentioned that its latest generation of central processor units (CPUs) will be available in the second half of 2024. Although businesses primarily focus on AI chips for data centers, some of AMD's CPUs are utilized alongside graphics processing units (GPUs), albeit with a greater emphasis on GPUs.
Additionally, AMD detailed its new neural processing units (NPUs), designed to handle on-device AI tasks in AI PCs. The company aims to leverage these capabilities to drive growth in the PC market, which has been recovering from a prolonged slump. Major PC manufacturers like HP and Lenovo plan to release devices featuring AMD's AI PC chips, which exceed Microsoft's Copilot+ PC requirements.
As AMD continues to innovate and compete with Nvidia, the AI semiconductor landscape is poised for significant developments, offering exciting prospects for businesses and consumers alike.
