Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) unveiled its latest artificial intelligence (AI) processors on Monday, detailing plans to challenge industry leader Nvidia. The announcement took place at the Computex technology trade show in Taipei, where AMD CEO Lisa Su introduced the MI325X accelerator, set to be available in the fourth quarter of 2024. Here’s more detail on the announcement, features of the new Ryzen AI 300 series, and more.
Announcement in Detail: AMD's Latest AI Chips
At Computex 2024, AMD's CEO Lisa Su revealed the MI325X accelerator, emphasizing the company's focus on developing cutting-edge AI chips. Su highlighted that "AI is clearly our number one priority as a company," showcasing AMD's commitment to harnessing its development capabilities to meet market demands. The MI325X accelerator is expected to be released in Q4 2024, while the upcoming MI350 series is set to launch in 2025, based on new chip architecture. The MI350 is anticipated to perform 35 times better in inference compared to the current MI300 series. Additionally, AMD plans to release the MI400 series in 2026, featuring the "Next" architecture.
Competition with Nvidia: Implications of the Launch
The competition between AMD and Nvidia in the AI chips market is intensifying. Nvidia currently dominates the AI semiconductor market with an 80% share. To compete, AMD announced an annual product release cycle, aligning with Nvidia's strategy. AMD's shares have more than doubled since the start of 2023, although Nvidia's shares have risen more than seven-fold in the same period. Su stated that AMD expects AI chip sales of roughly $4 billion for 2024, an increase of $500 million from previous estimates.
Features of the New Ryzen AI 300 Series
AMD also introduced the new Ryzen AI 300 chipset range at Computex 2024, aimed at powering the new Microsoft Copilot+ PCs. The Ryzen AI 300 series is built on AMD's latest architectures for neural, integrated graphics, and general processing. The new chips feature the XDNA2 for the NPU, RDNA 3.5 for the iGPU, and Zen 5 for the CPU. The Ryzen AI 300 series includes the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and Ryzen AI 9 365, both equipped with 50 TOPS NPU.
Availability of AMD's AI Chips and Ryzen Processors
The Ryzen AI 300 series will be available from July 2024 in select Copilot+ PCs like the Asus Vivobook S15 and HP OmniBook. Other laptops featuring these processors include models from MSI, Asus, and Lenovo. AMD's latest generation of central processor units (CPUs) will likely be available in the second half of 2024, with new processors in the Ryzen 9000 series also introduced at Computex.
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