AMD has finalised the acquisition of ZT Systems, a US-based provider of infrastructure for hyperscale data centres, for $4.9bn. The deal is part of AMD’s strategy to strengthen its position in the artificial intelligence (AI) data centre market and responds to the growing demand for AI accelerators in cloud environments.
ZT Systems brings to AMD a wealth of experience in designing and implementing rack-level systems, which, combined with AMD’s existing CPU, GPU and networking technologies, is expected to enable end-to-end AI solutions. AMD’s open-source software platform ROCm will play a key role in this process, accelerating the development and implementation of large-scale AI infrastructure.
AMD acquires ZT Systems – personnel changes and the future of manufacturing
As part of the acquisition, ZT Systems founder Frank Zhang takes on the role of senior vice president of ZT manufacturing at AMD, where he will oversee the sale of ZT’s manufacturing division to a strategic partner later this year. Doug Huang, former president of ZT Systems, joins AMD as senior vice president of data centre platform engineering, leading the design and customer support teams within the Data Centre Solutions division.
Competition in the AI accelerator market
The market for AI accelerators in data centres is estimated at $500 billion by 2028. The acquisition of ZT Systems allows AMD to better compete with the dominant player in this market, Nvidia, which offers end-to-end solutions for AI clusters. The integration of ZT Systems with AMD could enable it to provide customers with deployment-ready AI systems at the cluster level, a significant competitive advantage.
AMD’s acquisition of ZT Systems is a strategic move that could significantly impact the balance of power in the AI data centre market. The integration of AMD’s advanced technologies with ZT Systems’ expertise in rack-level system design creates the potential for faster and more efficient deployment of AI solutions in cloud environments. At the same time, the sale of ZT’s manufacturing division will allow AMD to focus on key business areas such as technology development and product innovation.
Against the backdrop of growing demand for AI accelerators, AMD, through this acquisition, strengthens its position as a key player in the market, able to compete with giants such as Nvidia. For customers, this means more choice and access to comprehensive, integrated AI solutions, which can accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence across industries.
