AMD Acquires Untether AI Team for AI Inference Chips, Invests in Nod.ai

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has confirmed the acquisition of the engineering team from Untether AI, a Toronto-based startup renowned for its energy-efficient AI inference chips. This move is part of AMD’s broader strategy to strengthen its position in the competitive AI hardware market, particularly against rivals like Nvidia.

An AMD spokesperson stated, “AMD has entered into a strategic agreement to acquire a talented team of AI hardware and software engineers from Untether AI. This transaction brings a world-class team of engineers to AMD, focused on advancing the company’s AI compiler and kernel development capabilities as well as enhancing our digital and SoC design, design verification, and product integration capabilities.”

Untether AI’s Technological Contributions

Founded in 2018, Untether AI developed AI inference chips based on an “at-memory” architecture, aiming to reduce data movement and enhance energy efficiency. Their speedAI240 Slim AI inference accelerator card demonstrated significant performance improvements, including three times greater energy efficiency in data centers and six times in edge environments compared to competitors.

The company’s technology had attracted partnerships with firms like Ampere Computing, Arm, and NeuReality, and was adopted by organizations such as J-Squared Technologies and India’s Ola-Krutrim.

Leadership Changes and Company Transition

Chris Walker, a former Intel executive, served as Untether AI’s CEO until May 2025. Following the acquisition, Untether AI announced it would cease supplying or supporting its speedAI products and imAIgine software development kit. In a statement, the company expressed pride in its contributions to AI chip technology and gratitude to its team, customers, partners, and investors.

AMD’s Broader AI Strategy

This acquisition aligns with AMD’s ongoing efforts to expand its AI capabilities. In 2024, AMD completed the acquisition of Silo AI, Europe’s largest private AI lab, to enhance the development and deployment of AI models on AMD hardware.

Additionally, AMD has invested in open-source AI software by acquiring Nod.ai, aiming to accelerate the deployment of optimized AI solutions on its platforms.

Industry Implications

AMD’s acquisition of Untether AI’s team underscores the company’s commitment to advancing AI hardware and software solutions. By integrating Untether AI’s expertise, AMD aims to offer more energy-efficient and high-performance AI inference solutions, catering to the growing demand in data centers and edge computing environments.