Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has unveiled the Helios rack-scale AI system and will deploy it within Microsoft’s Azure platform as part of an expanded technology partnership between the two companies. The move is part of a broader effort by major cloud providers to increase AI computing capacity, and marks Microsoft as the latest major client for AMD’s new infrastructure, following prior commitments from firms such as Meta, OpenAI, and Oracle.
Microsoft’s adoption of Helios will enable the company to run large-scale AI inference workloads across Azure, supporting both its own next-generation models and customer-facing AI services. Helios integrates AMD’s Instinct MI455X GPUs, sixth-generation EPYC “Venice” processors, Pensando networking, and the ROCm software platform into a system built for high-intensity AI computing.
Shipments of Helios systems to customers are scheduled to begin in the second half of 2026. This AI hardware launch positions AMD in direct competition with Nvidia’s well-established rack-scale solutions, such as Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin, as the company seeks to gain market share in the data center AI sector.
Beyond Helios, the agreement will see Microsoft enhance its Azure offerings with two new virtual machine families powered by AMD’s “Venice” CPUs: Azure HDv2 for agentic AI and data pipeline workloads, and Azure HXv2 for applications in semiconductor design. There are also plans for expanded use of AMD’s Pensando data processing units in Azure’s networking stack, as well as integration of Azure Boost in conjunction with AMD technologies to enhance cloud networking efficiency.
AMD’s chair and CEO, Lisa Su, noted the partnership now covers the full spectrum of AMD AI platforms on Azure, aiming to deliver high-performance compute solutions for customers scaling up AI infrastructure. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the collaboration would further broaden infrastructure options available on Azure, serving customers with diverse needs in AI training, inference, data tasks, and application development.
In response to the announcement, AMD shares gained 1.58% at Monday’s market close, finishing at $503.57, while Microsoft stock ended the session up 2.15% at $402.29.
Although Nvidia currently dominates the data center GPU space with over 95% market share, analysts at the Futurum Group say AMD’s Helios could enable the company to capture a substantially higher share of the sector. The company has also continued to build momentum among leading AI developers and hyperscale customers, asserting that eight of the top ten AI firms now utilize workloads running on its Instinct GPUs.
