AMD’s reported in “advanced talks” to acquire Xilinx for $30 billion

It looks like AMD is interested in acquiring Xilinx, a company which specialises in chips called FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays). These chips, unlike traditional processors, can be reprogrammed after they are produced, allowing programmers to rapidly create specialised solutions for emerging technologies without investing years in discrete processor designs. 

AMD’s deal with Xilinx is rumoured to be worth $30 billion, and according to the Wall Street Journal, AMD’s in “advanced talks” to acquire the company. 

While many FPGA-based chips will eventually be replaced with dedicated hardware, the utility of FPGAs gives the technology a large addressable market. The addition of FPGAs to AMD’s technology portfolio would also allow AMD to counter Intel’s acquisition of Altera, another FPGA manufacturer. 

With AMD’s chiplet processor architecture, AMD can potentially add FPGAs to their EPYC series processors, allowing for the acceleration of a wide variety of workloads. Alternatively, the AMD brand could be used to strengthen Xilinx’s existing strengths, giving the company inroads into new markets. 

Xilinx is a successful company in its own right and adding their expertise to AMD would open a lot of doors for both companies. However, it is still likely that this deal may fall through.