AMD announced today that it will acquire Nod.ai, a California-based artificial intelligence software startup, to strengthen the company's software capabilities. Vamsi Boppana, senior vice president of AMD's Artificial Intelligence Group, said: "The acquisition of Nod.ai will significantly enhance our ability to provide open software to artificial intelligence customers, allowing them to easily deploy high-performance artificial intelligence models optimized for AMD hardware."
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To catch up with rival Nvidia, AMD plans to invest heavily in key software needed for the company's artificial intelligence chips. Currently, through more than ten years of efforts, NVIDIA has established a strong advantage in the artificial intelligence chip market with its software and software developer ecosystem.
AMD has previously said it would invest in and build a unified collection of software to power the various chips the company makes. AMD President Victor Peng said: "AMD will do this through internal investments and external acquisitions."
The acquisition of Nod.ai fits this strategy because its technology allows other companies to easily deploy artificial intelligence models optimized for AMD chips.
AMD did not disclose the terms of the deal, including the acquisition amount. Data shows that Nod.ai has raised approximately US$36.5 million before this.
Earlier this year, AMD created an artificial intelligence group with about 1,500 engineers, the vast majority related to software. This year, AMD plans to continue to expand the team, hiring an additional 300 people, and more employees will be hired in 2024.