By Max A. Charney
(Reuters) – Advanced Micro Devices Inc said on Wednesday it would buy Finnish artificial intelligence startup SiloAI for about $665 million in cash as it seeks to bolster its AI chip capabilities to take on industry leader Nvidia.
Building and training large language models is difficult even for large tech companies.
AMD said the acquisition of Silo AI will improve the development and deployment of AMD-powered AI models, enabling potential customers to build complex AI models using its chips.
Silo AI will also strengthen AMD’s software development capabilities.
The acquisition will not affect AMD’s financial results, but “it opens up significant business opportunities for us going forward,” Vamsi Boppana, AMD’s senior vice president of AI, said in an interview.
AMD declined to comment on how much business the acquisition would generate in the long term.
Based in Helsinki, Finland, Silo AI specializes in end-to-end AI-driven solutions that help clients integrate technology into their products and services. Operating across Europe and North America, the startup’s clients include companies such as Philips, Rolls-Royce and Unilever.
AMD said Peter Serlin, CEO and co-founder of Silo AI, will continue to lead the division as part of the AMD Artificial Intelligence Group. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2024.
The acquisition marks the latest in a series of moves by AMD to expand its foothold in the AI ​​space: the company acquired AI software companies Mipsology and Nod.ai last year and has invested more than $125 million in 12 AI companies over the past 12 months.
(Reporting by Max A. Charney in San Francisco and Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
