AMD’s AI-focused investment strategy has been revealed through its supported startups, with a notable $250 million funding round for Liquid AI, valuing the startup at over $2 billion.
AMD’s Growing Investment in Artificial Intelligence Startups
AMD, a leading chipmaker based in Santa Clara, California, has been actively investing in artificial intelligence (A.I.) startups, with its venture arm making nine investments this year alone.
A New Era of A.I. Development: Liquid AI and Beyond
One of the latest beneficiaries of AMD‘s investment is Liquid AI, a startup co-founded by MIT researchers last year. The company aims to create cost-effective A.I. models that are significantly more efficient than traditional neural networks. Unlike these traditional models, which are inspired by the human brain, Liquid AI takes inspiration from the smaller brains of worms and requires less compute and energy. AMD’s investment arm led a recent $250 million funding round for Liquid AI, valuing the startup at over $2 billion.
AMD’s Growing Appetite for A.I. Investments
AMD’s CEO, Lisa Su, has stated that the company is becoming more active in its work with startups, particularly in the field of A.I. This shift towards increased investment is largely driven by the rapid advancement of A.I. technology, which has made even large enterprises more open to working with startups. According to data from Crunchbase, half of AMD’s 12 investments since 2000 have been made in the past four years.
Notable A.I. Investments by AMD
Earlier this month, AMD Ventures participated in a $155 million funding round for Ayar Labs, a startup developing A.I. chips that transmit data with light. Other notable investments include Cohere, a Canadian startup specializing in A.I. models for enterprises, and Scale AI, a data-labeling company. In September, AMD became one of the backers behind World Labs, a venture established by acclaimed A.I. academic Fei-Fei Li that aims to create A.I. models able to navigate and reason with the 3D world.
Competition in the A.I. Investment Space
AMD is not alone in its investment in A.I. startups. Nvidia, another leading chipmaker, has also demonstrated a growing appetite for venture capital in recent years. In fact, Nvidia’s A.I. bets reportedly totaled $1.5 billion at the beginning of 2024, a sharp jump from just $300 million the year prior.
