Introduction to AMD’s Latest Acquisition
AMD has confirmed that it has acquired the employees of Untether AI, a developer of AI inference chips that are faster and more energy-efficient than rival products. This acquisition is a strategic move by AMD to advance its AI compiler and kernel development capabilities, as well as enhance its digital and SoC design, design verification, and product integration capabilities.
What is Untether AI?
Untether AI is a startup that was founded in 2018 and is based in Toronto, Ontario. The company has been selling AI inference chips for edge environments and data centers based on its "at-memory" architecture. This architecture dramatically improves performance and reduces power consumption, making it an attractive solution for companies looking to deploy AI in power-constrained environments.
The Acquisition
The acquisition of Untether AI’s employees brings a world-class team of engineers to AMD, focused on advancing the company’s AI capabilities. The transaction does not include the acquisition of Untether AI’s products or intellectual property, but rather the talent and expertise of its employees. The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.
Impact of the Acquisition
The acquisition of Untether AI’s employees is the latest in a series of moves by AMD to expand its AI computing capabilities and challenge Nvidia’s dominance in the field. Just a day before the acquisition was announced, AMD announced that it had acquired compiler startup Brium to optimize AI performance on its Instinct data center GPUs.
Benefits of Untether AI’s Technology
Untether AI’s technology has been shown to be highly effective in reducing power consumption and improving performance in AI applications. The company’s speedAI240 Slim AI inference accelerator card has demonstrated three times greater energy efficiency than other chips in the closed data center category and six times greater energy efficiency in the closed edge category. This technology has the potential to be highly beneficial in a wide range of applications, from industrial edge to enterprise data centers.
Partnerships and Adoption
Untether AI had partnerships with several companies, including semiconductor companies like Ampere Computing, Arm, and NeuReality, as well as solution providers like Boston, Asa Computers, and Vertical Data. The company’s technology had already been adopted by several companies, including U.S.-based rugged embedded computing provider J-Squared Technologies and India-based AI cloud computing firm Ola-Krutrim.
Conclusion
The acquisition of Untether AI’s employees is a significant move by AMD to expand its AI computing capabilities and challenge Nvidia’s dominance in the field. With the addition of Untether AI’s talented team of engineers, AMD is well-positioned to advance its AI capabilities and provide highly effective solutions for a wide range of applications. As the demand for AI continues to grow, AMD’s acquisition of Untether AI’s employees is a strategic move that will help the company to stay ahead of the curve and provide innovative solutions for its customers.
