AMD plans AI chip debut by year-end, sees China AI opportunity
Aug 1 (Reuters) – Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) on Tuesday forecast a strong finish to the year, driven by the planned launch of artificial-intelligence chips that could compete with Nvidia (NVDA.O) semiconductors.
AMD shares rose about 3% in after-hours trading.
CEO Lisa Su said AMD is set to ramp up production of its flagship MI300 artificial-intelligence chips in the fourth quarter. The accelerator chips, which are in short supply, are designed to compete against the advanced H100 chips already sold by Nvidia.
Su said customer interest in the MI300 series chips is “very high” and AMD expanded its work with “top-tier cloud providers, large enterprises and numerous leading AI companies” during the third quarter.
Investors are betting that MI300 chips, due for release later this year, will challenge Nvidia in the surging market for advanced AI chips.
MI300s exceed the performance limits for sale to China under export controls issued in October, and unlike Nvidia and Intel (INTC.O), AMD has yet to create special chips for the lucrative Chinese market.
Nvidia modified its H100 chips to comply with U.S. Commerce Department restrictions on advanced AI semiconductor sales to China. AMD is mulling a similar strategy with its MI300 and older MI250 chips, Su said on a conference call with analysts on Tuesday.
“Our plan is to, of course, be fully compliant with U.S. export controls. But we do believe there’s an opportunity to develop product(s) for our customer set in China that is looking for AI solutions, and we’ll continue to work in that direction.” READ MORE