AMD Strengthens AI Position with $665 Million Acquisition of Silo AI
AMD has taken a big step to strengthen its position in the AI space with its acquisition Silo AI, Europe’s largest private AI lab. The $665 million deal is a key part of AMD’s AI push.
Silo AI was founded in 2017 and is based in Helsinki, Finland. They are a leading AI research and development company that creates custom AI models, platforms and solutions for many industries with a focus on cloud, embedded and endpoint computing.
Offer details
The all-cash deal is a major investment for AMD. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Upon closing, Silo AI will become part of AMD’s Artificial Intelligence Group. Peter Sarlin, CEO and co-founder of Silo AI, will continue to lead the Silo AI team and report directly to Vamsi Boppana, AMD’s Senior Vice President of the Artificial Intelligence Group. This structure will preserve Silo AI’s culture while leveraging AMD’s global scale and resources.
Silo AI’s expertise and products
Silo AI brings to AMD a team of more than 300 AI experts in 6 countries with a history of creating custom AI models and platforms for enterprise customers.
One of Silo AI’s most notable achievements is the development of open-source multilingual large language models, Poro And Viking, built on AMD platforms. These models demonstrate Silo AI’s ability to create AI systems that can process and generate human-like text in multiple languages.
Silo AI has an impressive list of customers, including global leaders such as Allianz, Philips, Rolls-Royce and Unilever. They are also working with other leading AI companies such as Aleph Alpha from Germany and Mistral from France to further strengthen their position in the European AI landscape.
What does the acquisition mean for AMD?
By bringing Silo AI’s expertise in-house, AMD can accelerate the development and deployment of AI solutions for its global customer base. This will help close the gap with competitors in the AI chip market.
Silo AI’s multilingual language models and custom AI solutions add to AMD’s product portfolio and enable them to address more AI use cases. This is especially important as AMD aims to beat Nvidia in AI computing.
Furthermore, the deal strengthens AMD’s presence in Europe, a major development center for AI. By maintaining Silo AI’s headquarters in Finland and leveraging their existing partnerships, AMD can tap into the European AI talent pool and grow its footprint in the region.
AMD’s recent AI investments
The Silo AI deal is part of a larger push by AMD to expand its AI capabilities through strategic investments and acquisitions.
In the past 12 months:
Acquisitions: Before Silo AI, AMD acquired two other AI-focused companies in 2023: Mipsology and Nod.ai. These acquisitions brought AI software and hardware optimization capabilities to AMD’s portfolio.
Start-up investments: AMD has invested more than $125 million in a dozen AI startups over the past twelve months. This allows the company to stay ahead and potentially integrate new technologies into its products.
Impact and future of the sector
The Silo AI deal will impact the AI and chip industry. As AMD expands its AI capabilities, it will potentially disrupt the current Nvidia-dominated market. This will lead to faster innovation and potentially more competitive pricing for AI chips and solutions.
Going forward, AMD’s AI strategy will be:
- Developing more powerful and efficient AI-specific chips to compete with Nvidia.
- Expand the software ecosystem to make it easier for developers and enterprises to use AMD hardware for AI.
- Using Silo AI’s expertise to create more complex, custom AI solutions for different industries.
- Continue to invest in and potentially acquire AI startups to stay ahead of the technology curve.
With the AI market growing rapidly, AMD is well positioned to ride the wave of AI computing demand.
