AMD to buy artificial intelligence software developer to catch up with Nvidia

Scott Mlyn/CNBC

AMD has announced the acquisition of Nod.AI, a startup specialising in open source artificial intelligence software. It's part of AMD's strategy to strengthen its position in AI.

Here's What We Know

Nod.AI develops open source AI technologies, in particular - systems with reinforcement learning. These are a type of models that are "learnt" by trial and error.

AMD hopes the acquisition will allow it to better compete with Nvidia, which doubled its revenue in the previous quarter, also thanks to AI. AMD's revenue fell 18 per cent in the same period, but still beat analysts' estimates for sales and earnings.

The acquisition is expected to be finalised by the end of the year.

Nod was founded in 2013. The startup initially developed AI-enabled hardware focused on gesture recognition and motion tracking in wearable devices. The company has raised millions of dollars in funding from venture capitalists such as Menlo Ventures and Sequoia Capital, and team members have reportedly come from Apple, Google and Samsung.

Source: CNBC