Advanced Micro Devices is making its biggest play yet for the AI data center market. The company unveiled Helios, a complete rack-scale system that bundles its own GPUs, CPUs, networking, and software into one giant package.
CEO Satya Nadella said in a press release that the company is "expanding the Azure infrastructure portfolio with AMD Helios to give customers the performance, scale and choice they need." The system will go into Microsoft's Azure cloud. But Microsoft is not the only early buyer. Meta, OpenAI, Oracle, and Tata Consultancy Services have also committed to using Helios.
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Helios is designed to compete directly with Nvidia's DGX systems, which have dominated the AI infrastructure market. AMD's integrated approach aims to simplify deployment and reduce costs, offering customers a turnkey alternative to piecing together components from different vendors.
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Right now, Nvidia owns the AI chip market. Futurum Group's analysis shows Nvidia controls more than 95 percent of the GPU market for data centers. AMD holds about 4.5%.
Forrest Norrod, who leads AMD's data center operations, said to CNBC, "We're very focused on providing the best total cost of ownership, the lowest cost per token, all in. And our customers are telling us that we're achieving that."
Analyst Daniel Newman of the Futurum Group sees room for AMD to grow. He estimates the company could capture 20% to 25% of the market. "And by the way, this is hundreds of billions of dollars of revenue," Newman said.
For the first quarter of 2026, AMD posted a 57% year-over-year increase in data center revenue. And the company plans to start recording tens of billions of dollars in AI-related data center revenue from 2027 onward, largely driven by Helios.
The AI chip market has been largely dominated by Nvidia, which controls more than 95% of the GPU data center market. AMD, with only about 4.5%, has been seeking to carve out a larger share. The launch of Helios represents AMD's most ambitious attempt yet to challenge Nvidia's hegemony by offering a fully integrated system that simplifies deployment and reduces total cost of ownership.
Nvidia's dominance has created an opening for rivals. Helios is designed to provide a fully integrated package, eliminating the hassle of assembling parts from various suppliers. This integrated approach could simplify deployment and potentially lower total cost of ownership, which AMD has highlighted as a key selling point.
AMD will begin shipping Helios to customers later in 2026. Norrod said the company laid out a three-generation roadmap in detail and delivered exactly what it said. "Under Lisa's leadership for the last 12 years, it's been a very different AMD," he added.
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