In a groundbreaking move that underscores the intensifying race for artificial intelligence (AI) computing power, OpenAI has struck a major partnership with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), acquiring rights to a potential 10% ownership stake in the chipmaker.
The deal, announced Monday, sent AMD stock skyrocketing more than 30% as investors reacted to the growing synergy between one of the world’s leading AI innovators and a top semiconductor manufacturer.
Under the agreement, OpenAI will deploy 6 gigawatts of AMD’s Instinct graphics processing units (GPUs) over the coming years, spanning multiple generations of AMD’s high-performance hardware.
The rollout will begin with an initial 1-gigawatt deployment in the second half of 2026, marking one of the largest GPU supply deals in the industry’s history.
“This is so core to our mission,” said OpenAI President Greg Brockman in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk on the Street.
“If we really want to scale to reach all of humanity, this is what we have to do.” Brockman emphasized that OpenAI’s growth has been constrained by limited access to compute power, hindering the company’s ability to roll out new features and products that could generate substantial revenue.
A Strategic Bet on Compute Power
The collaboration highlights a strategic pivot for OpenAI, which has long relied on NVIDIA chips for training and running its AI models.
By partnering with AMD, OpenAI not only diversifies its hardware sources but also gains a degree of autonomy in securing long-term chip supply, a critical factor amid a global shortage of high-end GPUs.
AMD, for its part, stands to gain immense benefits from the partnership. The company has struggled for years to compete with NVIDIA in the AI chip market, but this alliance could significantly elevate AMD’s position in the booming AI infrastructure space.
Analysts note that this deal positions AMD as a credible challenger to NVIDIA’s dominance, especially as OpenAI continues to expand its product suite and user base globally.
Equity for Compute: A Billion-Dollar Wager
As part of the agreement, AMD has issued OpenAI a warrant for up to 160 million shares of AMD’s common stock.
These shares will vest in stages based on key performance and deployment milestones including hardware rollouts and commercial success benchmarks.
The first tranche will vest with the successful deployment of the initial 1 gigawatt of compute power, while additional shares will unlock as OpenAI scales to 6 gigawatts.
If all milestones are met, OpenAI could ultimately acquire around 10% ownership in AMD, based on current outstanding shares.
While neither company disclosed the exact dollar value of the deal, OpenAI described it as being “worth billions.”
Market analysts estimate that the value could exceed $20 billion, depending on AMD’s future valuation and the full exercise of warrants.
Market Reaction and Industry Impact
Following the announcement, AMD’s stock surged more than 30% in a single trading session, marking one of its strongest market rallies in years.
Investors cheered the news, interpreting it as validation of AMD’s growing relevance in the AI ecosystem.
The move also signals a broader trend in the tech industry where AI companies are increasingly forming deep strategic partnerships with hardware manufacturers to secure scarce compute resources.
As demand for AI training and inference accelerates, control over GPU supply has become a decisive competitive advantage.
The Road Ahead
For OpenAI, this partnership represents a bold step toward scaling its ambitions to serve billions of users through platforms like ChatGPT,
DALL·E, and enterprise AI solutions. For AMD, it’s a transformative opportunity to expand its footprint in one of the fastest-growing sectors of the tech economy.
If successfully executed, the OpenAI–AMD partnership could redefine the balance of power in the AI hardware market – challenging NVIDIA’s dominance and reshaping how AI models are developed, trained, and deployed at scale.
With compute power now the currency of progress in artificial intelligence, both companies are betting big and investors appear to believe it’s a wager worth making.
Source: CNBC
