AMD Strikes Unusual Deal With OpenAI, Using Its Own Stock to Fund Chip Sales
AMD has found an inventive way to get closer to OpenAI — and it’s using its own stock to do it. Under a sweeping new partnership announced October 6, 2025, OpenAI will help AMD refine its Instinct GPUs, the company’s challenger to Nvidia’s AI chips, while committing to buy roughly 6 gigawatts of compute capacity over the next few years. The deal could be worth billions, but the payment method is unconventional: AMD granted OpenAI warrants for up to 160 million shares, vesting as milestones are met and the stock hits ambitious price targets, peaking at $600.
At Monday’s close, AMD’s shares had already jumped from $165 to $214, a surge that hints at investor enthusiasm — or speculation. If all tranches vest, OpenAI’s stake could be worth about $100 billion, enough to fund a massive chip-buying spree. But analysts say it’s more likely OpenAI will sell portions of the stock along the way to pay AMD, effectively turning the chipmaker into its own financier.
For AMD, that risk comes with a strategic payoff. Having OpenAI validate its GPUs as capable of powering frontier AI workloads could accelerate adoption across the broader cloud ecosystem. As UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri noted, AMD expects the partnership to “ultimately accelerate adoption momentum,” opening doors to other hyperscalers already using its CPUs.
It’s a financial gambit — and a branding one. While Nvidia has invested directly into OpenAI, AMD is letting OpenAI invest in it, betting that the association will push its AI roadmap forward. The structure may be less elegant than Nvidia’s stake-based approach, but if it helps AMD capture even a fraction of the upcoming data center boom, the trade could be well worth the dilution.
Source:
A.M.
