AMD’s Acquisition Series Continues with $665 Million Deal for Silo AI

AMD has confirmed plans to acquire Finnish company Silo AI for $665 million.

Helsinki-based Silo AI offers comprehensive AI solutions that enable businesses to easily integrate technology into products, services and operations. The company works with clients across a range of industries, including Philips, Rolls-Royce, Unilever and Allianz.

The company’s open large language models (LLMs), including Poro and Viking, are multilingual and built on AMD platforms in parallel with the company’s internal SiloGen modeling platform.

As part of the agreement, Silo AI CEO and co-founder Peter Sarlin will continue to lead the company as part of AMD’s Artificial Intelligence Group. In his new role, Sarlin will report to AMD Senior Vice President Vamsi Boppan.

“At Silo AI, our mission from day one has been to build a flagship AI company. Today’s announcement is the logical next step in that pursuit as we join forces with AMD to shape the future of AI computing,” said Sarlin.

“We have a strong track record of building successful AI products and delivering value to our customers. We look forward to being part of AMD to further expand our impact and develop enterprise solutions and AI models that solve the most complex challenges of deploying AI at scale today.”

AMD’s Acquisitions Build Foundation for AI Strategy

AMD said the agreement represents “another significant step in the company’s strategy to deliver end-to-end AI solutions to customers based on open standards.”

Boppana said the integration of the Silo AI team into the AI Intelligence group will allow the company to strengthen the development of customized AI models, platforms and solutions.

“Businesses across every industry are looking for fast, efficient ways to develop and deploy AI solutions that meet their unique business needs,” he commented.

“Silo AI’s team of trusted AI experts and proven track record of developing AI models and solutions for leaders, including cutting-edge LLMs built on AMD platforms, will further accelerate our AI strategy and help us develop and rapidly deploy AI solutions for our global customers.”

The deal is also the latest in a series of acquisitions and major investments by AMD to support its global AI strategy. Over the past 12 months, the company has invested more than $125 million in more than a dozen AI companies to further accelerate its comprehensive portfolio of solutions.

In August 2023, AMD announced plans to acquire French AI company and long-time partner Mipsology. Speaking at the time, Boppana said the deal would enable the company to improve its inference capabilities and further expand its AI software development capabilities.

News of the acquisition follows another deal to buy open-source AI software company Nod.ai last October. In a statement at the time, the company said the deal would enable it to accelerate the development and deployment of AI solutions.

This particular acquisition was a major step for AMD in its ongoing rivalry with Nvidia.

Nvidia offers similar software solutions aimed at accelerating the development of AI models. However, they remain largely closed and are designed specifically to work with the chip giant’s own graphics processors.

AMD said at the time that the deal was “closely aligned” with the company’s current strategy of building an “open software ecosystem that lowers entry barriers” for enterprises.