Meta will take a stake in the chipmaker in exchange for a commitment to buy AI chips worth billions of dollars.
Meta joins OpenAI as one of leading tech companies to take stake in chipmaker AMD, in deal AI equipment buying frenzy. Meta and AMD announced a partnership on Tuesday that will involve CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s tech giant purchasing billions of dollars worth of AMD Instinct GPUs to fuel its development ambitions. AI Offerings on Meta Platformsincluding Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.
In a statement, Meta described the deal as “multi-year” and said the AI purchase would provide Meta with up to 6 gigawatts of AMD GPUs, “the silicon computing technology used to support modern AI models.”
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a single gigawatt (1 billion watts) is equivalent to nearly 2,000 large solar panels or 100 million LED bulbs.
In AMD’s version of the announcement, CEO Lisa Su said: “We are proud to expand our strategic partnership with Meta as they push the boundaries of AI on an unprecedented scale. » As part of the agreement, Meta will take a 10% stake in AMD.
Santa Clara, California-based AMD previously signed a deal with ChatGPT maker OpenAI announced last October, which is similar to the Meta deal and also gives its AI rival a 10% stake in AMD.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, filed a lawsuit in 2025 against OpenAI, alleging that it violated Ziff Davis’ copyrights in the training and operation of its AI systems.)
What does this mean for the rest of us?
AMD’s two mega-deals may not have an immediate impact on people who use Meta’s social media and communications apps, or even those who buy AMD’s products, including desktop processors and graphics cards.
But it indicates that big companies betting big on the future of AI are doing what they can to get the hardware they need as supplies tighten and prices rise. prices rise for components such as RAM. Some of these constraints aren’t likely to go away anytime soon, and buyers could start to see prices rise even more than they already have for computers, smartphones, vehicles and other products that rely heavily on computer components like these.
It’s also a sign that Meta’s AI ambitions aren’t slowing down, as the company continues to compete with companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google to develop AI products and tools.
Another factor: Meta’s push into wearables
Another reason AMD might want access to AI chips goes beyond its own data centers and online platforms: Meta is increasingly focusing on wearable devices such as its Oakley Meta AI Glasses And other potential new wearable products.
In addition to what AMD’s GPUs can offer Meta for AI, AMD could also be part of its portable future.
“With AI models requiring unprecedented processing power to process data and information in real time, Meta is focused on securing the supply chain needed for its wearable devices,” said Michael J. Wolf, founder and CEO of consulting firm Activate.
Wolf believes the deals signed by Meta and OpenAI won’t be the last time a major AI-focused company locks in a semiconductor supply.
“As consumer hardware moves from smartphones to smart glasses, we will definitely see more of these mega-deals,” Wolf said.