13 Sources
[1]
AMD to Lay Off 4 percent Workforce to Focus on AI Chip Development: Report
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is reportedly laying off 4 percent of its global workforce, or about 1,000 employees, to prioritise the development of AI chips, aiming to rival Nvidia in the high-stakes AI hardware market. AMD is seen as Nvidia's main competitor in the lucrative chip market that powers the data centers capable of processing the massive data sets used by generative AI (Gen AI) technologies such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, according to a Reuters report. Also Read: Amazon Invests USD 110 Million to Boost AI Research with Free Access to Trainium Chips "As a part of aligning our resources with our largest growth opportunities, we are taking a number of targeted steps," an AMD spokesperson was reportedly quoted as saying. AMD's data center segment, which houses its AI graphics processors, saw revenue more than double in the September quarter, while gaming revenue plummeted 69 percent. Analysts expect the data center unit to grow 98 percent in 2024, outpacing AMD's estimated total revenue growth of 13 percent, according to an average of estimates compiled by LSEG, the report said. Also Read: Anthropic, Palantir, and AWS Partner to Bring Claude AI Models to US Defense Operations AMD plans to start mass production of its next-generation AI chip, the MI325X, in Q4 2024, but constrained manufacturing capacity and rising costs remain challenges. Research and development expenses surged 9 percent in Q3, contributing to an 11 percent increase in overall costs. Also Read: Siemens AG Aims to Capitalise on India's AI Data Center Boom: Report According to the report, AMD's stock has fallen 3 percent so far this year, as the company struggles to meet investors' high expectations after Wall Street drove a two-fold surge in its shares in 2023. With hyperscalers like Microsoft fueling demand for AI chips, AMD is betting big on this segment to secure its future in the competitive semiconductor market.
[2]
AMD to Trim Global Workforce as it Focusses on AI Chip Development
AMD is regarded as the closest rival to Nvidia Revenue in AMD's data center segment has jumped The company has been investing heavily to develop AI chips Advanced Micro Devices is laying off four percent of its global workforce, or about 1,000 employees, as it directs efforts towards developing AI chips in a bid to compete against industry bellwether Nvidia. AMD is regarded as the closest rival to Nvidia in the lucrative market for chips that form the brains of complex data centers that can process the large mounds of data used by generative AI technology like OpenAI's ChatGPT. "As a part of aligning our resources with our largest growth opportunities, we are taking a number of targeted steps," an AMD spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday. Revenue in AMD's data center segment, which houses its AI graphics processors, jumped more than two-fold in the September quarter. On the other hand, the personal computer segment grew 29%, while sales in its gaming unit slumped about 69 percent during the period. Analysts expect the data center unit to grow 98 percent in 2024, outpacing expected total revenue growth of 13 percent, according to an average of estimates compiled by LSEG. The company has been investing heavily to develop AI chips which command high selling prices and are in high demand among so-called hyperscalers like Microsoft. AMD plans to start mass production of a new version of its artificial-intelligence chip called the MI325X in the fourth quarter of the year. Ramping up production of AI chips is an expensive undertaking due to constrained manufacturing capacity. The company's research and development costs jumped close to nine percent in the third quarter, while its total cost of sales rose by 11 percent. Shares of AMD have dropped more than three percent so far this year, as the company struggles to live up to investors' high expectations after Wall Street drove a two-fold surge in its shares last year, betting on the returns linked with AI technology. © Thomson Reuters 2024
[3]
AMD to Cut 4% of Global Workforce as It Focuses on AI Chip Development
(Reuters) - Advanced Micro Devices is laying off 4% of its global workforce, or about 1,000 employees, as it directs efforts towards developing AI chips in a bid to compete against industry bellwether Nvidia. AMD is regarded as the closest rival to Nvidia in the lucrative market for chips that form the brains of complex data centers that can process the large mounds of data used by generative AI technology like OpenAI's ChatGPT. "As a part of aligning our resources with our largest growth opportunities, we are taking a number of targeted steps," an AMD spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday. Revenue in AMD's data center segment, which houses its AI graphics processors, jumped more than two-fold in the September quarter. On the other hand, the personal computer segment grew 29%, while sales in its gaming unit slumped about 69% during the period. Analysts expect the data center unit to grow 98% in 2024, outpacing expected total revenue growth of 13%, according to an average of estimates compiled by LSEG. The company has been investing heavily to develop AI chips which command high selling prices and are in high demand among so-called hyperscalers like Microsoft. AMD plans to start mass production of a new version of its artificial-intelligence chip called the MI325X in the fourth quarter of the year. Ramping up production of AI chips is an expensive undertaking due to constrained manufacturing capacity. The company's research and development costs jumped close to 9% in the third quarter, while its total cost of sales rose by 11%. Shares of AMD have dropped more than 3% so far this year, as the company struggles to live up to investors' high expectations after Wall Street drove a two-fold surge in its shares last year, betting on the returns linked with AI technology. (Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru and Max Cherney in San Francisco; Editing by Maju Samuel)
[4]
AMD focuses on AI and combating Nvidia's expansion... by laying off 4% of its workers? - Softonic
AMD aims to undertake a major restructuring of the company to pursue its great objective, the pity is that it has to lay off 1,000 people along the way Focusing on AI and stopping the production of high-end graphics cards, those are the messages given by AMD a month ago to update their current status and their medium-term goal of competing with Nvidia in artificial intelligence and increasing their market share in the gaming GPU sector. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is going to lay off 4% of its global workforce, about 1,000 employees, while directing its resources towards the development of AI-focused chips. This is a strategic shift for AMD to counter Nvidia's leadership in the sector. "As part of aligning our resources with our greatest growth opportunities, we are taking a number of specific actions that will unfortunately result in the reduction of our global workforce by approximately 4%," reported CRN citing an AMD spokesperson. "We are committed to treating the affected employees with respect and assisting them in this transition," added the spokesperson in a message quite empty of meaning. However, it is still unclear which departments will suffer the majority of the layoffs. However, in a deeper analysis, the third-quarter results showed both strengths and challenges: while total revenue increased by 18% to $6.8 billion, gaming chip revenue plummeted 69% year-over-year, and embedded chip sales fell 25%. In her recent earnings call, AMD CEO Lisa Su emphasized that the data centers and AI business is now fundamental to the company's future, and expects a 98% growth in this segment for 2024. Lisa Su attributed the recent revenue increases to orders from customers like Microsoft and Meta, which are now adopting AMD's MI300X GPUs for internal workloads. The tech sector only knows how to lay off, with Intel leading the way, a company that has already eliminated approximately 15,000 positions as part of its restructuring efforts (and cost savings, of course).
[5]
AMD announces major layoffs as AI becomes main focus
Data center revenue accounted for 51% of AMD's entire revenue last quarter AMD has confirmed it will be laying off around 1,000 workers, or 4% of its headcount, as it looks to shift its internal focus towards AI. The chipmaker believes that by losing the 1,000 workers, it will be able to focus more on areas of its business with significant growth potential, such as AI servers and data center hardware. "As part of aligning our resources with our largest growth opportunities, we are taking a number of targeted steps that will unfortunately result in reducing our global workforce by approximately 4%," a company spokesperson said in a statement. "We are committed to treating impacted employees with respect and helping them through this transition." Given its strong financial performance last quarter, the change it seen more as a strategic shift rather than a reaction to financial worries, unlike key rival Intel. AMD had doubled its headcount in recent years to tackle the surge in demand for high-performance processors used in AI data centers, however its revenue has only climbed 23%. Although recent figures suggest growth is strong, it's likely that the company overestimated its human resource requirements, hence the adjustment. Two weeks ago, AMD confirmed a third-quarter revenue of $6.82 billion, up 18% year-over-year and up 17% compared with the previous quarter. It also boasted of a record data center segment revenue, up 122% year-over-year and 25% quarter-over-quarter to $3.5 billion, or more than half (51%) of its entire revenue. Despite strong figures, AMD's market cap has fluctuated over the past year with several peaks and troughs. Share prices are up 16.2% in 12 months, compared with a 194.5% rise in Nvidia share prices during the same period. Intel shares are down 36.8%. In the most recent quarterly report, AMD CEO Dr Lisa Su said: "Looking forward, we see significant growth opportunities across our data center, client and embedded businesses driven by the insatiable demand for more compute." AMD isn't the only company making adjustments to staffing - a few months ago, Intel confirmed it would be laying off 15,000 workers, or 15% of its headcount, in relation to poor financial performance.
[6]
AMD will lay off nearly 1,000, or 4% of staff, as AI competition heats up
Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More AMD said today it will lay off 4% of its global staff, or perhaps somewhat less than 1,000 of its estimated 26,000-person workforce. The cuts come at a time when AMD has been soundly beating Intel in the x86 processor market. But AMD has also been second in the transition from graphics processing units (GPUs) to AI accelerators in competition with AI chip market giant Nvidia. AMD said through a spokesperson, ''As a part of aligning our resources with our largest growth opportunities, we are taking a number of targeted steps that will unfortunately result in reducing our global workforce by approximately 4%. We are committed to treating impacted employees with respect and helping them through this transition." In an SEC filing last year, AMD said it had 26,000 employees. Today, AMD said only that the number of layoffs would be under 1,000. AMD's stock has fallen this year while Nvidia's is up around 200%, turning it into the most valuable public company in the world with a market cap of $3.6 trillion. AMD's market value is $227 billion. AMD said in October it expects $5 billion in AI chip sales this year, about a fifth of the $25.7 billion. AMD has a stronghold in processors/GPUs for game consoles, but that market has been weaker than expected in this generation, partly due to the pandemic supply shortages for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. But Mercury Research reports that AMD's share of processors against Intel is 34% now, up dramatically from years ago.
[7]
AMD to cut workforce by 4% amid market pressures
Chip maker AMD is set to lay off about 1,000 employees, constituting roughly 4% of its workforce, as part of its strategy to align resources with key growth areas, particularly in the competitive AI chip market. This announcement comes after a significant decline in its gaming division, which has witnessed a staggering 69% drop. In 2023, AMD reported having around 26,000 employees, and this latest move could potentially save the company $200 million. An AMD spokesperson noted, "As a part of aligning our resources with our largest growth opportunities, we are taking a number of targeted steps that will unfortunately result in reducing our global workforce." The company is positioning itself to better compete with rivals, particularly Nvidia, which remains the dominant player in the AI chip market with an impressive market share. Despite the layoffs, AMD has been rolling out new products, including the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and the Ryzen 9 9900X, although projections indicate they will ship only about 220,000 chips this year. In comparison, Nvidia's GPUs hold a whopping 88% market share, leaving AMD with just 12%. Nevertheless, AMD has made headway against Intel, increasing its desktop CPU shipments by 10 percentage points within a year. AMD's struggles are further underscored by its performance in the gaming segment, which is anticipated to decline by 59% to $2.57 billion in revenue by the end of 2024. The company is not alone, though, as Intel, Dell, and Samsung have recently announced similar workforce reductions in an effort to strengthen their positions in the evolving AI landscape. With the AI market projected to grow significantly, AMD recognizes that streamlining its workforce is crucial to capitalize on emerging opportunities. AMD's recent layoffs come despite the company forecasting $5 billion in AI chip sales for 2024, a figure that represents about 20% of its total projected sales of $25.7 billion. While AMD hopes to tap into a total market for AI chips estimated at $500 billion by 2028, it must grapple with the reality that Nvidia is forecasted to amass $125.9 billion in revenue over the same period. This stark contrast illustrates the uphill battle AMD faces in capturing market share from its more established competitor. The looming layoffs and AMD's strategic shift reveal broader challenges facing the semiconductor industry, where companies are increasingly compelled to refine their focus amid fluctuating market dynamics. The recent news sheds light on the ongoing pressures faced by manufacturers as they strive to navigate a rapidly evolving technological landscape. For now, AMD's journey toward regaining competitive footing continues, as it seeks to adapt to market needs while providing support to those affected by the layoffs. AMD's commitment to treating impacted employees with respect and assisting them through the transition speaks to a larger corporate responsibility that is often overlooked in the pursuit of profits.
[8]
AMD to cut around 1,000 jobs so it can double-down on AI opportunity - SiliconANGLE
Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. says it will lay off 4% of its staff, which works out to be around 1,000 jobs based on its current headcount of 26,000 employees at the end of last year. The company explained today that the job cuts are necessary for it to get a stronger foothold in the market for artificial intelligence processors, which represents its biggest growth opportunity by far, but is currently dominated by rival chipmaker Nvidia Corp. In a statement, AMD said the layoffs were about "aligning resources with our largest growth opportunities", adding that it is committed to "treating impacted employees with respect and helping them through this transition." AMD is the world's second-largest manufacturer of graphics processing units, also known as GPUs, which power the vast majority of AI workloads today. The company's most advanced GPU is the Instinct-branded MI300X accelerator, which provides data center operators like Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Google LLC with an alternative to Nvidia's H100 and H200 GPUs. However, although customers appear happy with AMD's chips, the company trails far behind Nvidia, whose GPUs have become synonymous with AI. AMD has long stressed that AI remains one of its most important growth opportunities, but despite its best efforts, Nvidia still accounts for more than 80% of global GPU sales, generating far more revenue than its rival. Last month, AMD delivered decent enough results in its third quarter earnings, beating expectations and growing its revenue by 18%, but its guidance for the current quarter was less than convincing, and its stock declined more than 7%. In an earnings call with analysts, AMD executives stressed that they're expecting AI chip sales to generate around $5 billion in revenue this year, which would represent around a fifth of its total projected revenue. The company has also forecast the total market for AI chips to grow to around $500 billion by 2028, but it remains to be seen how big a share of that pie it will be able to command. AMD's struggles to overhaul Nvidia are evident in the price of its shares. While its stock is down 5% in the year to date, shares of Nvidia are up more than 200%, and it has become one of the top three most valuable publicly-traded companies in the world. AMD's GPUs were originally conceived for gaming, providing the processing power needed for high-end graphics, but growth in this segment has stalled. In last month's report, AMD said it expects revenue from its gaming division to fall by 59% this year to just $2.7 billion. In the last quarter, sales there fell by an alarming 69%. The decline in "semi-custom revenue" wasn't really a surprise as AMD hasn't launched any new gaming GPUs for quite a while, meaning that most of the people who would like one have probably already gotten one. So the business won't pick up again until it launches a new generation of graphics cards for gamers. AMD didn't say exactly which departments or roles would suffer from the job cuts, simply stating that it is taking "targeted actions across various functions" in its organization. Shareholders were not particularly reassured by the company's comments, as AMD's stock fell 3% in the regular trading session. Still, AMD looks to be in a much healthier position than another of its rivals, namely Intel Corp., which recently announced a much more significant round of job cuts, saying it will lay off more than 16,000 of its staff across multiple business units. Intel has struggled to jump on the AI bandwagon even more than AMD, and its GPU sales barely register. In addition, Intel has lost market share to AMD in key markets for central processing units, such as data center servers and personal computers. Whereas AMD's lay offs might be compared to a surgeon taking a scalpel to trim some of the fat, Intel's actions are more akin to someone wielding an ax, hacking off chunks of its body in a desperate effort to reshape itself.
[9]
AMD Reduces Workforce by 4%
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), a leading semiconductor manufacturer, has announced the elimination of approximately 1,000 jobs, representing a 4% reduction in its global workforce. This strategic decision aims to reallocate resources toward the development of artificial intelligence (AI) chips, enhancing AMD's competitiveness against Nvidia. The move highlights AMD's intention to align its operations with growth areas in the semiconductor industry. A company spokesperson informed Reuters that AMD is implementing several targeted measures to redirect its resources toward areas with significant growth potential. The primary focus is on improving the production and innovation of AI-focused processing units within AMD's data center division. This segment saw a substantial revenue increase of 122% year-over-year in the latest fiscal quarter, reaching $3.5 billion. Analysts expect this division to continue growing by 98% through 2024, emphasizing the importance of AI technologies in AMD's strategic plans. In contrast to the strong performance of the data center division, AMD's personal computer (PC) revenue increased by 29%, totaling $1.9 billion in the third quarter of the current fiscal year. However, the gaming sector experienced a significant decline, with sales falling by 69% to $462 million during the same period. These results reflect a changing market environment, prompting AMD to invest more in high-growth areas like AI while adjusting its workforce to support these strategic goals. Source: Reuters
[10]
AMD to cut about 1,000 jobs so it can double down on AI opportunity - SiliconANGLE
Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. says it will lay off 4% of its staff, which works out to be about 1,000 jobs based on its headcount of 26,000 employees at the end of last year. The company explained today that the job cuts are necessary for it to get a stronger foothold in the market for artificial intelligence processors, which represents its biggest growth opportunity by far, but is currently dominated by rival chipmaker Nvidia Corp. In a statement, AMD said the layoffs were about "aligning resources with our largest growth opportunities," adding that it is committed to "treating impacted employees with respect and helping them through this transition." AMD is the world's second-largest manufacturer of graphics processing units, also known as GPUs, which power the vast majority of AI workloads today. The company's most advanced GPU is the Instinct-branded MI300X accelerator, which provides data center operators like Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Google LLC with an alternative to Nvidia's H100 and H200 GPUs. However, although customers appear happy with AMD's chips, the company trails far behind Nvidia, whose GPUs have become synonymous with AI. AMD has long stressed that AI remains one of its most important growth opportunities, but despite its best efforts, Nvidia still accounts for more than 80% of global GPU sales, generating far more revenue than its rival. Last month, AMD delivered decent enough results in its third quarter earnings, beating expectations and growing its revenue by 18%, but its guidance for the current quarter was less than convincing, and its stock declined more than 7%. In an earnings call with analysts, AMD executives stressed that they're expecting AI chip sales to generate around $5 billion in revenue this year, which would represent around a fifth of its total projected revenue. The company has also forecast the total market for AI chips to grow to around $500 billion by 2028, but it remains to be seen how big a share of that pie it will be able to command. AMD's struggles to overhaul Nvidia are evident in the price of its shares. While its stock is down 5% in the year to date, shares of Nvidia are up more than 200%, and it has become one of the top three most valuable publicly-traded companies in the world. AMD's GPUs were originally conceived for gaming, providing the processing power needed for high-end graphics, but growth in this segment has stalled. In last month's report, AMD said it expects revenue from its gaming division to fall by 59% this year to just $2.7 billion. In the last quarter, sales there fell by an alarming 69%. The decline in "semi-custom revenue" wasn't really a surprise as AMD hasn't launched any new gaming GPUs for quite a while, meaning that most of the people who would like one have probably already gotten one. So the business won't pick up again until it launches a new generation of graphics cards for gamers. AMD didn't say exactly which departments or roles would suffer from the job cuts, simply stating that it is taking "targeted actions across various functions" in its organization. Shareholders were not particularly reassured by the company's comments, as AMD's stock fell 3% in the regular trading session. Still, AMD looks to be in a much healthier position than another of its rivals, namely Intel Corp., which recently announced a much more significant round of job cuts, saying it will lay off more than 16,000 of its staff across multiple business units. Intel has struggled to jump on the AI bandwagon even more than AMD, and its GPU sales barely register. In addition, Intel has lost market share to AMD in key markets for central processing units, such as data center servers and personal computers. Whereas AMD's lay offs might be compared to a surgeon taking a scalpel to trim some of the fat, Intel's actions are more akin to someone wielding an ax, hacking off chunks of its body in a desperate effort to reshape itself.
[11]
AMD lays off 4% of its workforce
AMD has confirmed that it's laying off 4% of its workforce to focus on "large growth opportunities." It's unclear how many workers have been impacted by the reduction -- and which divisions. AMD had roughly 26,000 employees as of last year, according to the company's annual 10-K filing. Four percent would translate to approximately 1,000. "As a part of aligning our resources with our largest growth opportunities, we are taking a number of targeted steps," an AMD spokesperson told CRN. "We are committed to treating impacted employees with respect and helping them through this transition." We've reached out to the company for more information and will update this piece if we hear back. The news, which was previously reported by Wccftech, comes after a mixed Q3 earnings report. While AMD grew both revenue and profit, the company's gaming division saw a 69% year-over-year decline, and guidance for the current quarter missed analysts' expectations. AMD has struggled to make progress in AI chip sales against rival Nvidia. A lack of inventory is one reason -- by one estimate, AMD will ship 224,000 GPUs this year, a high volume, but not enough to satiate large customers like Microsoft and Meta. AMD's chips have also fallen short of what Nvidia's can deliver in key AI training workloads, although AMD has positioned its offerings as the superior choice for AI inference (i.e., running models). During the Q3 earnings call, AMD CEO Lisa Su tried to assure investors that the firm's future chips will be highly competitive with Nvidia's. "Our next-gen MI350-series silicon is looking very good, and is on track to launch in the second half of 2025, with the largest generational increase in AI performance we have ever delivered," she said. It'll be an uphill battle. Consensus estimates have AMD's 2025 revenues reaching $32.6 billion, up just $7.0 billion. Nvidia, meanwhile, is forecast to report quarterly revenues of $33 billion -- virtually all attributable to AI chip sales.
[12]
AMD Says It's Laying Off 4 Percent Of Workforce Amid AI Chip Push
'As a part of aligning our resources with our largest growth opportunities, we are taking a number of targeted steps that will unfortunately result in reducing our global workforce by approximately 4 percent,' an AMD spokesperson says in a statement to CRN. AMD said it's laying off roughly 4 percent of its global workforce to focus on its "largest growth opportunities," which includes its effort to challenge Nvidia's AI chip dominance. "As a part of aligning our resources with our largest growth opportunities, we are taking a number of targeted steps that will unfortunately result in reducing our global workforce by approximately 4 percent," an AMD spokesperson said in a statement to CRN. "We are committed to treating impacted employees with respect and helping them through this transition," the representative added. [Related: Analysis: Intel's AI Chip Efforts Stall As AMD Gets A Boost Against Nvidia] While AMD's stock price is 3.9 percent higher than it was at the beginning of the year, shares have been down more than 13 percent since the chip designer disclosed in its third-quarter earnings report late October that its fourth-quarter revenue forecast fell short of expectations. The AMD spokesperson did not say how many employees would be impacted by the layoffs or how many people it currently employs. AMD had approximately 26,000 employees as of last year, according to the company's annual 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from January. According to LinkedIn data, AMD's workforce has grown by 24 percent over the past six months and by 33 percent over the past year.
[13]
AMD Plans To Cut 4% Of Workforce Amid Strategic Shift Toward AI Chip Development To Rival Jensen Huang-Led Nvidia's Dominance: Report - Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD)
Advanced Micro Devices AMD has reportedly decided to lay off approximately 1,000 employees, representing 4% of its global workforce. What Happened: AMD is realigning its resources to compete with Nvidia Corporation NVDA in the data center chip market, reported Reuters. "As a part of aligning our resources with our largest growth opportunities, we are taking a number of targeted steps," an AMD spokesperson told the publication. The company has been aggressively investing in the development of AI chips, which command high prices and are in demand among hyperscalers like Microsoft Corporation MSFT. See Also: Trump Appoints Elon Musk And Vivek Ramaswamy To Lead 'DOGE,' Aiming to Slash Bureaucracy And $6.5 Trillion Federal Spending: 'We Will Not Go Gently' The company's data center segment, which includes its AI graphics processors, witnessed a more than two-fold increase in revenue in the September quarter. Analysts forecast that the data center unit will grow 98% in 2024, outpacing the expected total revenue growth of 13%. AMD plans to start mass production of its MI325X AI chip in fourth-quarter of 2024, although ramping up production is costly due to limited manufacturing capacity Why It Matters: Last month, AMD reported third-quarter revenue of $6.8 billion, surpassing analyst expectations of $6.71 billion. The chipmaker also reported earnings of 92 cents per share, matching analysts' forecasts, according to Benzinga Pro. Prior to the earnings, analysts highlighted concerns about AMD's ability to maintain a profitable business model in the face of stiff competition from Nvidia and Intel Corp INTC. Earlier this month, AMD's stock saw a 5% increase in the week following the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Price Action: AMD shares closed Wednesday's session down by 3.01%, finishing at $139.30. However, in after-hours trading, the stock saw a slight uptick, rising to $139.41 as of the latest update. Image via Shutterstock Read Next: Bitcoin Hovers Around $90K, Ethereum, Dogecoin Extend Trump Victory Rally: How Long Before BTC Hits $100,000? Analysts Reveal Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
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AMD announces layoffs of 1,000 employees as part of a strategic shift to prioritize AI chip development and compete with Nvidia in the growing AI hardware market.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has announced a significant restructuring effort, laying off approximately 1,000 employees, or 4% of its global workforce. This move is part of a strategic shift to focus on developing AI chips and competing with industry leader Nvidia in the rapidly growing AI hardware market 123.
AMD's decision comes as the company seeks to align its resources with its largest growth opportunities, particularly in the AI and data center segments. The company's data center revenue, which includes AI graphics processors, more than doubled in the September quarter, while other segments like gaming saw significant declines 23.
Despite the layoffs, AMD's overall financial performance remains strong:
AMD faces several challenges as it ramps up its AI chip production:
To address these challenges and compete with Nvidia, AMD plans to start mass production of its next-generation AI chip, the MI325X, in Q4 2024 1. The company has been investing heavily in AI chip development, which commands high selling prices and is in high demand among hyperscalers like Microsoft 23.
AMD is regarded as Nvidia's closest rival in the lucrative market for chips powering AI-capable data centers 23. However, the company's stock has fallen 3% so far this year, as it struggles to meet investors' high expectations following a two-fold surge in its shares in 2023 12.
AMD's workforce reduction is part of a broader trend in the tech sector, with other companies like Intel also announcing significant layoffs. Intel recently confirmed it would be cutting 15,000 jobs, or 15% of its headcount, due to poor financial performance 5.
As AMD CEO Lisa Su emphasized in a recent earnings call, the company sees the data center and AI business as fundamental to its future growth 4. With this strategic shift, AMD aims to capitalize on the increasing demand for AI chips and secure its position in the competitive semiconductor market.
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