SANTA CLARA / HELSINKI — In a strategic move to bolster its enterprise AI solutions, AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) announced on July 10, 2024, its definitive agreement to acquire Silo AI, Europe’s largest private AI lab. The acquisition, valued at approximately $665 million in an all-cash transaction, underscores AMD’s commitment to expanding its global AI capabilities and delivering end-to-end AI solutions based on open standards.

Silo AI, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, with operations across Europe and North America, is renowned for its expertise in developing bespoke AI models, platforms, and solutions. The lab has an impressive client roster, including Allianz, Philips, Rolls-Royce, and Unilever. Silo AI’s specialization in AI-driven solutions facilitates the seamless integration of AI into products, services, and operations, making it a valuable addition to AMD’s portfolio.

Vamsi Boppana, Senior Vice President of the Artificial Intelligence Group at AMD, emphasized the strategic importance of this acquisition. “Across every industry, enterprises are looking for fast and effective ways to develop and deploy AI solutions for their unique business needs,” Boppana stated. “Silo AI’s team of trusted AI experts and their proven experience in developing leadership AI models and solutions, including state-of-the-art large language models (LLMs) built on AMD platforms, will further accelerate our AI strategy and advance the build-out and rapid implementation of AI solutions for our global customers.”

Peter Sarlin, CEO and co-founder of Silo AI, will continue to lead the Silo AI team as part of AMD’s Artificial Intelligence Group, reporting directly to Boppana. Sarlin expressed enthusiasm about the acquisition, stating, “At Silo AI, our mission from the start has been to build an AI flagship company. Today’s announcement is a logical next step in that pursuit as we join forces with AMD to shape the future of AI computing.”

Nokia’s Chief Strategy and Technology Officer, Nishant Batra, highlighted the long-term partnership with Silo AI and expressed optimism about the enhanced capabilities the acquisition would bring. “As a leading European AI company, Silo AI has been a great long-term partner for us in many AI-related projects. We look forward to the enhanced capabilities the combination of AI technologies and innovative compute solutions from AMD will bring,” Batra said.

The acquisition of Silo AI marks another significant step in AMD’s AI strategy, following investments in over a dozen AI companies, including Mipsology and Nod.ai. AMD’s AI ecosystem has seen substantial growth, and the integration of Silo AI is expected to further strengthen its position in the AI market.

Dr. Pekka Manninen, Director of Science and Technology at CSC-IT Center for Science, Finland, praised Silo AI’s pioneering work in scaling large language model training on LUMI, Europe’s fastest supercomputer powered by AMD Instinct MI250X GPUs. “Together with university collaborators, they have trained state-of-the-art open-source models for EU languages, such as the Nordic Poro and Viking models. We have collaborated extensively with the team in optimizing the software layer, allowing for efficient training of AI models on LUMI,” Manninen remarked.

Mats Agervi, CEO of Combient, also acknowledged the capabilities of Silo AI, noting the company’s role in accelerating digitalization and AI adoption for major Nordic companies. “Today’s acquisition underscores the capabilities of Silo AI, opening up expanded opportunities for increased value creation in Europe and beyond,” Agervi stated.

As AMD continues to push the boundaries of AI innovation, the acquisition of Silo AI is poised to enhance its open-source AI software capabilities and drive the efficient training and inference on AMD compute platforms. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2024, marking a new chapter in AMD’s journey to becoming a leader in AI computing.