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Sam Altman's AI giant eyes 10% stake in the chipmaker as it expands global compute buildout. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares surged more than 30% on Monday after OpenAI confirmed a sweeping deal that could see Sam Altman's artificial intelligence company acquire up to a 10% stake in the chipmaker.
The agreement cements AMD as a key hardware partner for OpenAI's next-generation infrastructure and marks one of the largest GPU deployment pacts ever signed in the AI industry.
Under the terms, OpenAI will deploy up to six gigawatts of AMD's Instinct GPUs over several years — beginning with a one-gigawatt rollout in late 2026 — to power the company's expanding network of model-training data centers across the U.S. and Europe.
As part of the deal, AMD issued OpenAI a warrant for up to 160 million shares, with vesting tied to deployment milestones and AMD's share performance. The first tranche will unlock once the initial gigawatt installation goes live. If fully exercised, OpenAI would become one of AMD's largest individual shareholders.
"This partnership is essential to our mission," OpenAI President Greg Brockman said on CNBC. "We're already constrained by compute. To scale responsibly and reach everyone, we need this level of hardware access."
The deal instantly boosted AMD's market value by nearly $80 billion, its biggest single-day jump since 2016. AMD CEO Lisa Su said the partnership validates the company's AI road map and positions it for a decade of growth.
"You need partnerships like this to move the ecosystem forward," Su said. "We're thrilled to help enable the world's most ambitious AI buildout."
The announcement comes just weeks after Nvidia agreed to invest $100 billion in OpenAI under a separate supply pact. Analysts say the twin deals signal a maturing and increasingly interdependent AI economy, one where capital, chips, and compute flow in tight circles among a handful of dominant players.
For AMD, it's a turning point after years of trailing Nvidia. For OpenAI, it's a vote of confidence in its trillion-dollar infrastructure push, and a reminder that in the race to power the future, partnerships are as valuable as innovation itself.
