AMD Secures Critical AI Infrastructure in Billion-Dollar Capacity Deal

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has taken a significant step to power its artificial intelligence ambitions, entering into a long-term agreement to secure substantial computing capacity. The chipmaker's ten-year deal with Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms, valued at an initial $311 million with an option to expand to approximately $1 billion, provides the essential infrastructure for developing its Instinct accelerator line. This strategic move coincides with rising analyst optimism regarding the company's server segment growth.

The infrastructure announcement was accompanied by a bullish assessment from KeyBanc Capital Markets, which upgraded AMD's stock to an "Overweight" rating. KeyBanc's analysts project a minimum of 50% revenue growth for AMD's server CPU business by 2026, fueled by market share gains and its latest processor architecture. Their outlook also suggests potential AI-related revenue reaching $14 to $15 billion, driven by strong demand for the MI300 and MI325 accelerator series.

This positive sentiment is reinforced by recent earnings from manufacturing partner TSMC. The Taiwanese foundry reported a 35% year-over-year profit surge last Friday, explicitly citing sustained high demand for its 3-nanometer and 5-nanometer wafers used in high-performance computing. These advanced nodes are critical for AMD's next-generation processors.

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Strategic Details of the Rockdale Agreement

Executed on Friday, the contract with Riot Platforms grants AMD access to 25 megawatts of IT capacity at a data center located in Rockdale, Texas. The delivery of this capacity is scheduled to occur between January and May of 2026. A crucial component of the deal is AMD's option to scale the power allocation up to 200 megawatts, which would increase the total contract value to around $1 billion.

This agreement underscores the seriousness of AMD's push into the competitive AI hardware arena. By securing direct access to power and cooling infrastructure—resources that have become increasingly scarce—the company gains a dedicated facility to test its own workloads and advance the development of its Instinct accelerators.

Upcoming Earnings and Regulatory Landscape

Investor attention now turns to AMD's quarterly results, scheduled for release on February 3. Market participants will scrutinize the report for any correlation between the newly secured computing capacity and concrete customer orders for the Instinct GPU family. Furthermore, company management will likely need to address the impact of new U.S. export tariffs, which have imposed a 25% levy on certain high-end AI accelerators destined for the Chinese market.