Advanced Micro Devices Inc. shares suddenly soared Thursday, following a report that indicated the chip maker was working with Microsoft Corp. as it expands into processors for artificial intelligence.
Bloomberg News reported Thursday that AMD
AMD,
and Microsoft
MSFT,
were working together on another option in the market for AI chips beyond what Nvidia Corp.
NVDA,
the market leader, offers. Microsoft is providing financial support as AMD works on this initiative, according to the report, which cited unnamed sources.
AMD is also working with Microsoft on a “homegrown” Microsoft processor that would handle AI workloads, Bloomberg reported. Neither company confirmed the reporting on the record to Bloomberg; an AMD spokesperson declined to “comment on rumor or speculation” when reached by MarketWatch, and Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
AMD shares surged as much as 12% to an intraday high of $91.64 in afternoon trading Thursday. Microsoft’s stock was up 0.8% as Nvidia shares fell 1%.
Companies involved in making the gear powerful enough to support AI work — such as Nvidia, AMD and Super Micro Computer Inc.
SMCI,
have been swept up in a wave of hype for artificial-intelligence technology going mainstream. The popularity of Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT sparked much of the interest in generative AI, which uses large-language models that require a lot of computing power.
In AMD’s recent earnings report, Chief Executive Lisa Su told analysts on a conference call she felt “very good” about the company’s product road map in the data-center business, especially as it relates to AI. Wall Street, however, was not as excited and shares fell Wednesday.
At CES in Las Vegas in January, Su introduced AMD’s MI300 graphics processing unit/central processing unit intended for supercomputing applications, which is expected to be released in the fourth quarter.
“We’re really excited about the AI opportunity,” Su had told analysts. “I think that is success for us, having a significant part of the AI overall opportunity.
