AMD and Microsoft are expanding their long-term strategic partnership with new AI infrastructure, processors and networking technologies designed to support the growing demand for enterprise artificial intelligence on Microsoft Azure.
The expanded collaboration will bring AMD’s next generation Helios AI platform to Azure while introducing new virtual machine offerings powered by sixth generation AMD EPYC processors. The companies also plan to expand deployment of AMD networking technologies to improve cloud performance for AI workloads.
The partnership reflects the continued race among cloud providers to deliver the computing power needed for increasingly complex AI applications.
Microsoft Deploys AMD Helios for AI Inference
At the center of the announcement is Microsoft’s planned deployment of the AMD Helios Rackscale Solution across Azure.
Helios combines AMD Instinct MI455X GPUs, sixth generation AMD EPYC “Venice” processors, Pensando networking technology and ROCm software into a unified AI platform built for large scale training and inference.
Microsoft says Azure will use the infrastructure to support frontier AI models, Azure AI services and enterprise customer workloads running on its cloud platform.
AMD expects to begin shipping Helios systems to customers, including Microsoft, during the second half of 2026.
New Azure Virtual Machines Target AI and Engineering
Microsoft is also expanding its Azure virtual machine portfolio with two new offerings powered by AMD EPYC processors.
The new Azure HDv2 virtual machines are designed for agentic AI applications and large data processing workloads, while Azure HXv2 instances are optimized for semiconductor design and engineering simulations.
The additions expand Azure’s portfolio of AMD-powered infrastructure across AI development, analytics and high performance computing.
Networking Becomes Part of the AI Stack
Beyond processors and GPUs, the companies are strengthening the networking technologies that connect large AI clusters.
Microsoft is expanding its use of AMD Pensando data processing units while integrating AMD technologies with Azure Boost to improve networking efficiency, connection processing and cloud scale performance.
As AI models continue growing in size, networking has become an increasingly important component of AI infrastructure, helping move data efficiently between thousands of processors working simultaneously.
Open AI Infrastructure Remains a Focus
The companies say the expanded partnership is intended to give customers more flexibility when building AI applications on Azure.
Developers creating large language models, enterprise AI applications and production inference services will have access to AMD-powered infrastructure through Microsoft’s cloud platform.
The announcement also continues AMD’s strategy of offering an open AI ecosystem built around its processors, accelerators, networking technologies and ROCm software platform.
The Bottom Line
AMD and Microsoft are deepening their partnership as demand for AI infrastructure continues to accelerate. By expanding Azure with next generation AMD processors, AI accelerators and networking technology, the companies are positioning the cloud platform to support everything from enterprise AI applications to the world’s largest frontier models while giving customers more infrastructure options for deploying artificial intelligence.