South Korean AI startup Upstage is in talks with AMD to procure 10,000 of the latest AI acceleration chips. This move not only marks an important advancement for AMD in expanding its computing power footprint in the Asia-Pacific market but also reflects a strategic shift for South Korean tech companies seeking to reduce their reliance on Nvidia.
On March 23, Bloomberg reported that Upstage CEO Sung Kim met with AMD CEO Lisa Su last week in Seoul, and the two parties discussed the procurement of AMD MI355 acceleration chips, with a target procurement scale of 10,000 units.
Sung Kim stated on Monday: &#34;South Korea has a large number of Nvidia chips, but we want to diversify and include other chips, including AMD.&#34;
Analysts pointed out that this potential order is significant for AMD. If the deal goes through, it will open a new breakthrough for AMD in the Asia-Pacific AI computing power market, while also introducing competitive variables to the Nvidia-dominated AI infrastructure landscape in South Korea.
<h2>National AI Competition Drives Computing Power Demand</h2>
According to reports, Upstage's large-scale procurement plan is closely related to the national AI strategy led by the South Korean government.
The company is one of four participating teams in a national AI foundational model evaluation competition supported by the South Korean government. This competition has been dubbed the &#34;AI Squid Game&#34; by outsiders, borrowing imagery from the popular Netflix survival drama of the same name, reflecting South Korea's ambition to become a top global AI power.
Under the competition rules, the AI foundational models of the participating teams are evaluated and eliminated every six months by a review committee supervised by the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT, with plans to select two finalist teams early next year. The winners will receive additional Nvidia GPU resources as a reward.
Reports indicate that it is under this competitive pressure that Upstage is accelerating its computing power reserves. Sung Kim stated that the company is currently preparing for a new round of evaluations this summer, planning to launch a large language model with approximately 200 billion parameters.
While expanding its computing power, Upstage is also building its own technological differentiation advantage. Sung Kim stated that the company's core competitiveness lies in constructing high-performance models at relatively low costs through a combination of scale and efficiency, a strategy aimed at countering low-priced competitors from China.
This path aligns closely with the current cost pressures in the global AI industry. As Chinese AI companies offer competitive models at lower prices, AI developers in South Korea and other markets are facing pressure to seek a balance between performance and cost.
In addition to domestic competition, Upstage is also looking at overseas sovereign AI markets. Sung Kim stated that the company is targeting countries such as Vietnam and the UAE, planning to export sovereign AI systems that can be deployed within their local jurisdictions.
This layout indicates that while Upstage participates in the domestic computing power arms race, it is also actively seeking to commercialize its technological capabilities and expand its international footprint

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According to reports, South Korean AI startup Upstage plans to purchase 10,000 of the latest MI355 chips from AMD to break its single reliance on NVIDIA and achieve diversification in computing power. This move aims to address the pressure of the national AI competition in South Korea and prepare for the development of a large model with hundreds of billions of parameters. Analysts point out that this significant order also opens up new opportunities for AMD to expand its AI computing power market in the Asia-Pacific region

- South Korean AI startup Upstage is negotiating with AMD to procure 10,000 AI acceleration chips, marking a significant step for AMD in the Asia-Pacific market.  
- This move reflects South Korean tech companies' strategy to diversify away from reliance on Nvidia, aligning with the government's national AI strategy to enhance computation capabilities.  
- Upstage is also preparing to expand its market reach by targeting overseas sovereign AI markets, including Vietnam and the UAE, while competing in domestic AI infrastructure initiatives.

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AMD secures a major order in the Asia-Pacific: South Korean AI startup plans to purchase 10,000 of the latest chips