US Chip Giant AMD In $4.9bn Swoop For Server-Maker ZT Systems

AMD is planning a $4.9 billion swoop for server maker ZT Systems as the company looks to strengthen as it bids to take on Nvidia.

The US chip outfit is looking to expand its portfolio of artificial intelligence chips and hardware as it plans to pay for 75% of the ZT Systems acquisition with cash and the remainder in stock.

The company had $5.34 billion in cash and short-term investments as of the second quarter.

The computing requirements for AI have dictated that tech companies string together thousands of chips in clusters to achieve the necessary amount of data crunching horsepower. 

Stringing together the vast numbers of chips has meant the makeup of whole server systems has become increasingly important, which is why AMD is acquiring ZT Systems. AMD’s shares climbed nearly 3% in premarket trading.

“AI systems are our number one strategic priority,” AMD CEO Lisa Su said in an interview with Reuters.

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The addition of ZT Systems engineers will allow AMD to more quickly test and roll out its latest AI graphics processing units (GPUs) at the scale cloud computing giants such as Microsoft require, Su said.

AMD plans to break off its server manufacturing business and sell it once the deal closes, as it has no plans to compete with companies such as Super Micro Computer, Su said.

The closely held ZT Systems has roughly 2,500 employees of which AMD plans to retain about 1,000 engineers. Currently ZT Systems generates annual revenue of roughly $10 billion, Su said.

Executives expect the deal to close in the first half of 2025 and expect an additional 12 to 18 months to sell the manufacturing business.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said at the company’s developer conference in March that the one-time chip designer now creates and sells entire data centres, or the individual components needed to build one. 

This year analysts expect the company to generate $105.9 billion from its data centre segment, which includes chips and other AI hardware.

Su said last month the company expects to collect roughly $4.5 billion worth of AI chip revenue this year. The company’s customers include Microsoft and Meta Platforms.

AMD expects ZT Systems to contribute to the company’s adjusted financial performance by the end of 2025.

• Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara

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