Meta joins OpenAI as one of the major technology companies participating in chipmaker AMD, as part of The AI hardware buying frenzy. Meta and AMD on Tuesday announced a partnership that will see the giant’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg buy AMD Instinct GPUs worth billions of dollars to fuel its manufacturing ambitions. AI rendering on all Meta platformsincluding Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.
In a statement, Meta described the deal as “multi-year,” and said the AI purchase would provide Meta with up to 6 gigawatts of AMD GPUs, “the silicon computing technology used to support modern AI models.”
According to the US Department of Energy, one gigawatt (1 billion watts) is equivalent to approximately 2,000 large solar panels or 100 million LEDs.
At AMD’s announcement event, CEO Lisa Su said, “We are proud to expand our partnership with Meta as they push the boundaries of AI on an unprecedented scale.” As part of the deal, Meta will take a 10% stake in AMD.
AMD, based in Santa Clara, California, previously signed a deal with ChatGPT maker OpenAI that it announced last October, which is similar to the Meta deal and gives its AI rival 10% ownership of AMD.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that it infringed Ziff Davis’ copyrights in training and using its AI programs.)
What does this mean for all of us?
AMD’s two megadeals may not have an immediate impact on people who use Meta’s social networking sites and social media applications, or on those who buy AMD products, including desktop processors and graphics cards.
But it shows that big companies making big bets on the future of AI are doing everything they can to secure the hardware they need as supplies tighten up again prices increase for components such as RAM. Some of those issues aren’t expected to end anytime soon, and consumers may start to see prices rise beyond what they already have for computers, smartphones, cars and other products that rely heavily on computer components like these.
It’s also a sign that Meta’s ambitions for AI are not diminishing as it continues to compete with companies including OpenAI, Microsoft and Google to develop AI products and tools.
Also a feature: Meta’s push into wearables
Another reason AMD may want access to AI chips beyond its data centers and online platforms: Meta is increasingly focused on wearables such as Oakley Meta AI Glasses again other potential new portable products.
In addition to what AMD’s GPUs can give Meta the power of an AI infrastructure, AMD may also be part of its wearable future.
“With AI models requiring unprecedented processing power to process real-time data and information, Meta is focused on securing the supply chain needed for its wearable devices,” said Michael J. Wolf, founder and CEO of consulting firm Activate.
Wolff believes that the agreements signed by Meta and OpenAI will not be the last time a large company focused on AI closes the supply of semiconductors.
“As consumer hardware transitions from smartphones to smart glasses, we’re absolutely going to see these big deals,” Wolff said.
