Microsoft Expands AMD Partnership to Boost Azure AI Infrastructure

AMD and Microsoft have announced an expanded long-term partnership to strengthen Azure’s AI infrastructure with next-generation AMD GPUs, CPUs, networking technologies, and software.

As part of the collaboration, Microsoft will deploy the AMD Helios™ Rackscale Solution on Azure to power frontier AI model inference, Azure AI services, and enterprise AI workloads. Helios combines AMD Instinct™ MI455X GPUs, 6th Gen AMD EPYC™ “Venice” processors, Pensando™ networking, and ROCm™ software into a unified AI platform.

Azure will also introduce two new virtual machine series powered by 6th Gen AMD EPYC processors: Azure HDv2 for agentic AI and data pipelines, and Azure HXv2 for semiconductor design and engineering workloads.

The partnership further extends to cloud networking, with Microsoft expanding the use of AMD Pensando DPUs and integrating AMD technologies with Azure Boost to improve networking performance and efficiency across Azure’s infrastructure.

AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su said the expanded collaboration strengthens the company’s full-stack AI offerings on Azure, while Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella highlighted the partnership’s role in providing customers with greater performance, scalability, and flexibility for next-generation AI applications.

AMD expects to begin shipping the Helios platform to customers, including Microsoft, in the second half of 2026.