AMD Acquires AI Startup Brium to Challenge Nvidia’s Dominance
Brium specialises in optimising machine learning applications for inference—the process of running trained AI models—across diverse hardware platforms.
AMD has acquired stealth-mode AI startup Brium in a move aimed at bolstering its position in the competitive AI hardware market dominated by Nvidia. Announced Wednesday, the deal’s terms were not disclosed.
Brium specialises in optimising machine learning applications for inference—the process of running trained AI models—across diverse hardware platforms.
This flexibility allows AI workloads traditionally tuned for Nvidia chips to be adapted for AMD’s hardware, such as its Instinct GPUs.
What sets Brium apart is its ability to optimise the entire AI inference stack ahead of deployment, before the model even reaches the hardware. This approach minimises reliance on specific hardware setups and enables faster, more efficient performance out of the box across diverse deployment environments.
"Brium brings advanced software capabilities that strengthen our ability to deliver highly optimized AI solutions across the entire stack. Their work in compiler technology, model execution frameworks, and end-to-end AI inference optimization will play a key role in enhancing the efficiency and flexibility of our AI platform." AMD said in a blog post.
Interestingly, in a previous blog post, Brium acknowledged that while AMD’s Instinct GPUs offer strong performance capabilities, fully utilising that performance remains challenging because most AI workloads are heavily optimised for Nvidia hardware.
The startup stated its mission is to enable efficient model inference across a wide range of hardware architectures.
The acquisition marks AMD’s fourth in two years, following deals with Silo AI, Nod.AI, and Mipsology. The strategy underscores AMD’s push to reduce Nvidia’s dominance by enabling broader hardware compatibility for AI developers.