AMD’s next-generation AI chips set to power 2026 data center growth

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) is preparing to launch the next generation of its AI accelerators in the second half of 2026, introducing the Instinct MI450 alongside the Helios rack-scale platform (MI455X), both part of the MI400 series. The rollout marks the chipmaker’s latest push to challenge the dominance of Nvidia in the rapidly expanding market for AI computing hardware.

Visible Alpha consensus forecasts suggest the MI400 series could generate about $7.2 billion in revenue in 2026, accounting for roughly 25% of AMD’s data center sales. The segment has become the company’s primary growth engine, contributing more than 60% of total revenue as cloud providers and AI developers increase spending on advanced computing infrastructure.

Analysts estimate AMD could ship roughly 258,000 MI400 series units in 2026, with an average selling price of about $30,926. High-volume deployments, particularly for inference-heavy AI workloads, are expected to drive a step-change in profitability. Visible Alpha consensus points to data-center operating income rising to about $9.4 billion in 2026, up from $3.6 billion last year, with segment operating margins projected at 31.04%.

The broader ramp of the MI400 platform is expected to drive a sharp increase in AMD’s GPU business. Data-center GPU revenue is forecast to surge 114% year-on-year to $15 billion in 2026.

Beyond accelerators, AMD is also preparing to introduce its next-generation “Venice” server CPU in the second half of 2026, extending the company’s push into the data-center processor market. Analysts expect the new chip to support continued share gains in servers, lifting data-center server revenue by about 40% year-on-year to $12.8 billion.

Taken together, Visible Alpha consensus forecasts point to total data-center revenue rising 73% to $28.7 billion in 2026.

 This article was published by Visible Alpha, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.