AMD, a global semiconductor leader, designs and delivers high-performance and adaptive computing solutions. The 50-year-old behemoth works with companies in industries including technology, automotive, telecom, financial services, gaming, and entertainment to provide computing and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions across cloud, edge, and end devices.
The tech giant established an office in Singapore in 1984, which has been a cornerstone of the local semiconductor industry, evolving from a high-volume manufacturing plant to a hub of innovation and research. In the island nation, it works closely with system integrators and OEM manufacturers to provide its CPU and GPU technology for consumers. It recently collaborated with leading smart parking solutions provider Sun Singapore Systems to deploy a new AI-based smart parking solution.
e27 recently spoke with Peter Chambers, MD (APAC Sales) and Country Manager (Australia), who shared more about AMD’s work in Singapore.
Below are the edited excerpts:
How does AMD’s mission align with current trends in AI, and what future trends do you foresee in these areas?
AI is the single most transformative technology of the past 50 years, and we are just beginning to see its true potential. The use cases are growing exponentially daily, and the seamless incorporation of AI capabilities across a wide range of applications is occurring at breakneck speed, enabling intelligent and automated decision-making. This inadvertently translates to an insatiable demand for computing that will further drive requirements for more powerful hardware.
At AMD, we are uniquely positioned to power the end-to-end infrastructure driving the AI era with the broadest portfolio of high-performance compute engines, an open, proven, and developer-friendly software platform, and deep collaboration and co-innovation with our partners, including the largest cloud, OEM, software, and AI companies in the world.
We aim to provide the computational power necessary to drive applications and bring use cases to life in gaming, data centres, and other industries.
We don’t believe a single company, product, or vision will realise the next five years of advancement in the AI space. The future of technology will be born from open ecosystems and deep industry partnerships that drive true innovation.
AMD has been an active player in Singapore’s semiconductor industry. What factors have driven its involvement in the country’s ecosystem? How important is it for AMD to work with local universities and institutions to build a skilled workforce capable of leading APAC’s semiconductor innovations?
Following its entry into the market, AMD Singapore expanded its horizons by establishing the IC Design Centre in the early 90s, signalling its entry into the microcontroller and Ethernet controller design. We have since transformed our local operations into a full-fledged R&D centre by 2012, spearheading CPU product development and expanding its portfolio to include client, graphics, server, and console gaming products. In fact, the Singapore labs contributed to the development of the recent AMD Instinct MI300 and MI325 series accelerators.
At the same time, we also work closely with system integrators and OEMs to ensure the wide availability of our leading CPU and GPU technology for consumers in Singapore.
We proactively seek avenues to collaborate with key local stakeholders—such as the Economic Development Board, Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association (SSIA), and NTU—and focus on initiatives where our power is amplified most: putting AMD technology in the hands of the next generation so the best and brightest minds can solve the world’s biggest problems for a better tomorrow.
We run several programmes to empower local students with the passion alongside necessary skills and tools for data science, AI, and chip design, fostering the next generation of tech leaders in the APAC region and supporting the development of advanced AI processors like the MI325X and future generations.
With the increasing demand for AI-driven solutions, how do you see Singapore contributing to accelerating AMD’s goals for the semiconductor and AI industries?
As mentioned, AMD Singapore houses an R&D centre that spearheads CPU product development and is expanding its portfolio to include client, graphics, server, and console gaming products.
Peter Chambers, MD (APAC Sales) and Country Manager (Australia) at AMD
Talent is a crucial piece of the puzzle. We strongly believe that people power AMD, so we strive to attract, acquire, develop, and advance the most engaged, diverse, and inclusive workforce in the semiconductor industry so that it can fully realise the benefits of the work we do in Singapore.
With Singapore’s well-illustrated track record of empowering companies especially in the adoption of emerging technologies, we remain committed to furthering the highly collaborative partnerships we have established throughout the years with the local government as well as OEM partners, industry associations such as SSIA, and the various local institutions and universities to nurture a stronger tech ecosystem.
The semiconductor industry in Asia Pacific is evolving rapidly. What trends or shifts do you anticipate over the next five years, particularly in producing speciality chips and sustainable manufacturing?
AI is defining the next era of computing, and we are just at the beginning of this super cycle. The use cases are growing exponentially every day, and the seamless incorporation of AI capabilities across a wide range of applications is occurring at breakneck speed, enabling intelligent and automated decision-making.
In the coming years, enterprises need to ensure that they are well-equipped to take on this transition, including ensuring they have the IT infrastructure to power and handle the AI workloads. This inadvertently translates to an insatiable demand for computing further driving requirements for more powerful hardware.
How does AMD balance performance and environmental impact in chip production, and are there any key sustainability goals you’re pursuing in Singapore?
AMD takes a three-pronged approach to reducing environmental impacts and improving sustainability:
1. Addressing environmental impacts at AMD and in our supply chain. Within AMD operations, we aim to reduce operational GHG emissions in line with science-based targets while working closely with manufacturing suppliers to track and improve environmental metrics.
- In 2023, we achieved a 24.5 per cent reduction in our Scope 1 and 2 emissions compared to a 2020 baseline. This is part of our ambition to achieve a 50 per cent absolute reduction in GHG emissions from operation emissions by 2030 from a 2020 base year.
- Our Singapore site is certified to the ISO 14001 standard, certifying our proactive measures to minimise environmental footprint, comply with relevant legal requirements, and achieve the necessary environmental objectives.
- An example of how AMD is helping our foundry wafer partners reduce impacts is through modular “chiplet” architecture. Instead of designing for one large monolithic chip, AMD engineers reconfigured the component IP building blocks using a flexible, scalable connectivity fabric. By breaking our designs up into smaller chiplets, we can get more chips per wafer, lowering the probability that a defect will land on any one chip. As a result, the number and yield percentage of “good” chips per wafer go up, and the wasted cost, raw materials, energy, emissions, and water go down.
2. Advancing environmental performance for IT users: Optimising system-level energy efficiency to help our customers and end users save energy and advance their sustainability goals.
- AMD EPYC processors power some of the most energy-efficient x86 servers, delivering exceptional performance and reducing energy costs. In fact, the latest 5th Gen EPYC processors consume up to 68 per cent less power consumption than its competition, allowing IT leaders to achieve the same level of performance with up to 87 per cent fewer servers.
- AMD powers 157 systems on the Green500 list of the world’s most efficient supercomputers, as of the latest list in June 2024, including Frontier, the world’s fastest supercomputer.
3. Innovating collaborative solutions to address environmental challenges: AMD is working with enterprises and researchers on innovative solutions that optimise renewable energy generation, enhance smart solutions, and power cutting-edge climate and scientific research.
- Climavision uses 3rd-generation AMD EPYC processors to bring more data and smarter analysis to weather forecasting. This critical information helps industries like agriculture, transportation, insurance and risk, and renewable energy better prepare for extreme weather events by providing more accurate and timely data.
- The LUMI supercomputer powered by AMD is driving climate research and helping researchers understand the interrelated forces contributing to climate change and develop solutions to help mitigate the impacts.
How does AMD view the role of private companies in advancing Singapore’s semiconductor ecosystem, especially in fostering innovation and sustainable practices?
Innovation and sustainable practices do not happen in isolation. Lawmakers and industry must work together to develop regulations and establish effective guidelines that foster growth in those specific areas while ensuring that development is responsible and aligned with the national interest.
We believe that the future of technology will be born from open ecosystems and deep industry partnerships that drive true innovation. In fact, our business and AI strategies are built upon this very premise.
Also Read: Silicon Box’s Business Head on how chiplet architecture transforms semiconductor scalability
We are driving open-source innovation for AI ecosystems because we feel that is the best path forward for the industry and to enable the best from AI developers. Making our software and hardware open source allows developers to build and deploy AI applications more quickly and easily. Developers and partners can leverage AMD software tools to optimise AI applications on AMD hardware.
Today, the stack includes AMD ROCm for AMD Instinct accelerators and AMD Radeon graphics cards, AMD Vitis AI for adaptive accelerators, SoCs, and FPGAs, as well as AMD ZenDNN open-source libraries for AMD EPYC processors.
We have also joined key partnerships, like the AI Alliance which consists of companies, startups, universities, research and government organisations, and non-profit foundations that are working to innovate across all aspects of AI technology, applications and governance—in an open and transparent way.
Sustainable practices:
Similarly, collaboration is central to our approach to environmental sustainability, largely because AMD operates in a fabless business model with carefully selected external suppliers manufacturing our products. Our strategy considers where we have control and influence.
We also work with our manufacturing suppliers to advance environmental sustainability across a variety of metrics. Our engagement with our direct suppliers is informed by each supplier’s situation and looks toward assertive, forward-looking, and measurable progress.
For example, in 2023, we met individually with numerous suppliers to learn more about their current sustainability efforts and maturity levels to identify milestones for 2024-25.
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