To beat Nvidia, AMD bets on open source acquisition and a strategy reminiscent of Linux vs Microsoft era
AMD is leveraging the power of open source with the acquisition of Nod.ai, which has developed a portfolio of tools and systems to drive the deployment of AI applications on the company’s hardware.
Nvidia’s Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) software has become the industry standard for GPU workloads, but AMD hopes to challenge this dominance with its own open source alternatives.
CUDA is closed source, while AMD’s use of software such as Radeon open compute (ROC) – and now Nod.ai’s platforms, including SHARK software – provides an alternative means for companies to optimize AI implementation.
Nvidia vs AMD is the new Windows vs Linux
The decade-old company, which was recently valued at $36.5 million, builds and develops optimization software that can run on top-of-the-line Ryzen chips, including EPYC CPUs, Radeon GPUs, and Versal processors. This makes it a good fit, with the company moving straight into AMD’s business as it hopes to take the fight to Nvidia.
AMD will acquire Nod.ai’s team as part of the acquisition, reinforcing the company’s goal to strengthen its software portfolio.
While Nvidia is known as a hardware form – and market leader for providing GPUs for AI workloads, the software – especially CUDA in addition to its optimized libraries, reinforces its superiority.
“The acquisition of Nod.ai is expected to significantly increase our ability to provide AI customers with open software that allows them to easily deploy high-performance AI models tailored to AMD hardware,” said Vamsi Boppana, AMD’s senior VP for AI.
“The addition of the talented Nod.ai team accelerates our ability to advance open-source compiler technology and enable portable, high-performance AI solutions across the AMD product portfolio.”
By embracing Nod.ai and incorporating its tools into its broader portfolio, AMD is taking an approach that means its battle with Nvidia is similar in nature to the rivalry between Linux and Windows. While Linux follows an iterative and collaborative development cycle, Windows remains Microsoft’s proprietary operating system.