Although we frequently focus on machinations resembling Microsoft, Google AND Nvidia In the ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence, other big tech players sometimes escape our attention.
This is the case AMD — which caught everyone’s attention this week when the company announced it will buy a server maker ZT Systems in a $4.9 billion cash-and-stock deal aimed at difficult chip giant Nvidia for data center technology in the artificial intelligence sector.
It wasn’t a deal that got here out of nowhere — AMD has a market capitalization of greater than $250 billion and is the second-largest supplier of graphics processors essential to artificial intelligence — but it underscored the company’s ambitions in a sector it has been lively as an investor in for some time.
AMD alone has made 4 investments — in keeping with Crunchbase — in the world of startups over the past yr that are heavily focused on AI:
- The company took part in an AI infrastructure startup Fireworks AIjust last month, $52 million in Series B funding, following others in the AI space resembling Nvidia and Databricks Projects.
- At the end of last yr, AMD took part in Artificial intelligence is essential$56.5 million in funding. The startup is attempting to use AI to automate monotonous corporate tasks. Nvidia and Google also participated in the round.
- Last October, AMD co-led a $22 million Series B round of funding. Morewhich creates an AI software tool that optimizes and creates AI models.
- Finally, in August last yr, it participated in a massive funding round value $235 million Face hugging valued at $4.5 billion. The New York startup lets firms store and use AI software, and also hosts a whole lot of hundreds of open-source AI models that developers can use in AI applications. This massive, Salesforce Projects-led 1 The round included the most significant figures from the world of technology, including QualcommNvidia, Intel, IBMGoogle and Amazon all participating.
AMD Venture Capital Division – AMD Projects — has been equally busy in the AI space, closing a slew of huge deals this yr, in keeping with Crunchbase:
- In March, it participated in a massive $175 million Series C funding round for the optical connectivity startup Heavenly AI — whose photon fabric-based platform helps decouple computation from memory, making large-scale AI processing faster and computing more energy efficient.
- In April, AMD Ventures took part in an enterprise AI platform Laminiseed and Series A. The startup enables enterprises to soundly and cost-effectively build their very own AI.
- She was also a part of a huge collective that took part in AI scalesa massive $1 billion round that valued the data labeling and scoring startup at a staggering $13.8 billion in May. Other Big Tech investors in the round include Nvidia, FinishAmazon, Cisco Investments, Intel Capital AND ServiceNow Enterprises.
- Finally, just last month, she took part in one other big deal — participating in a large language modeling project CohereThe $500 million Series D round values the startup at $5.5 billion. The round also included firms like CiscoNvidia and Salesforce Ventures.
While it’s definitely no surprise that AMD is investing heavily in the generative AI space, these deals — some of them huge — along with the massive acquisition of ZT Systems, make it clear that the semiconductor company is not about to back down when it involves AI and, more importantly, the massive amount of infrastructure required to support it.
While Nvidia has definitely taken center stage when it involves the early fight for AI supremacy, it also has its share of deep-pocketed competitors who show no signs of backing down from the AI race.
Things that caught our attention and other things:
- Defense technology has been in the news recently (like here and here ). AI has definitely played a role in why, and this week we got one other example. Defcon AIwhich has developed an AI-based decision-making tool for military logistics planning, has raised $44 million in a seed round led by Venture Bessemer Partners. This Air ForceAir Mobility Command has already deployed the platform. The company says the Air Force can now build airlift networks to maneuver personnel and equipment around the world during crises in lower than 10 minutes.