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Mark Zuckerberg Teams Up With AMD to Dethrone NVIDIA

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Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has reached a new long-term supply agreement with Advanced Micro Devices to support its expanding artificial intelligence infrastructure, officials announced this week. Under the deal, AMD will provide up to six gigawatts of AI computing power through its Instinct family of GPUs, with initial shipments expected to begin in the second half of 2026.

As per Meta:

At Meta, we’re working to build the next generation of AI and enable personal superintelligence for all. To do this, we need massive, scalable compute power that can handle the growing demands of our AI workloads. Our partnership with AMD, which builds on our existing collaboration, will help us meet those needs.

The agreement builds on existing technical collaboration between the companies and aligns their hardware roadmaps across graphics accelerators and CPUs. AMD’s MI450-derived custom GPU and next-generation EPYC processors will form the basis of the first deployment tier, which is designed for high-efficiency AI workloads such as inference and other demanding applications. This agreement will “enable [Meta] to advance and innovate at an unmatched pace” and roll out “powerful, efficient new hardware co-designed with our software stack to handle massive growth.”

In addition to the GPU supply, AMD has issued Meta a performance-based warrant for up to 160 million shares of its common stock. The warrant vests in stages as shipment and technical milestones are reached, potentially giving Meta an equity stake approaching 10 percent of AMD if all conditions are met.

Meta said the AMD deal forms part of a broader supplier diversification strategy designed to reduce dependence on any single vendor amid global competition for AI hardware. The company is also working with other suppliers, including Nvidia, to ensure access to large-scale compute resources needed for its AI model development and product rollouts.

“The first tranche vests with the initial 1-gigawatt of shipments, with additional tranches vesting as Meta’s purchases scale to 6 gigawatts,” AMD was reported as saying about the Meta deal. “Vesting is further tied to AMD achieving certain stock price thresholds and exercise is tied to Meta achieving key technical and commercial milestones.”

Financial and industry sources place the overall value of the agreement above $60 billion over a five-year period, with some estimates suggesting a potential exposure of over $100 billion when additional units and extended terms are factored in. It is also important to mention here that Meta previously signed a deal with NVIDIA for hardware compatibility just a week prior.

Shipments to support the first AMD GPU deployments are scheduled to begin in the second half of 2026, providing Meta with additional compute capacity to support its expanding AI infrastructure. The scale of the deal has contributed to a rise in AMD’s stock price in pre-market trading following the announcement. By securing long-term GPU commitments with favorable equity arrangements, Meta is locking in hardware availability while gaining strategic influence over a key supplier.

Abdul Wasay

Abdul Wasay explores emerging trends across AI, cybersecurity, startups and social media platforms in a way anyone can easily follow.