A smartphone with a displayed AMD logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

By Max A. Cherney

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Advanced Micro Devices expects the market for the company's data center chips will grow to $1 trillion by 2030, CEO Lisa Su said at the company's analyst day on Tuesday.

Artificial intelligence will drive much of the growth to the trillion-dollar figure, a market that includes AMD's central processing units (CPUs) and networking chips, along with its specialized AI chips, Su said at the Nasdaq in New York.

"It's an exciting market," Su said. "There's no question, data center is the largest growth opportunity out there, and one that AMD is very, very well positioned for."

The chip designer has been attempting to expand its AI business as rival Nvidia gobbles up market share for data center chips as the market explodes. AMD has been successful in the CPU business, steadily taking share against Intel.

In the next three to five years, AMD expects 35% growth across its entire business each year and 60% in its data center business, finance chief Jean Hu said at the analyst day. The company also expects earnings to rise to $20 a share in the same three-to-five-year period.

AMD shares jumped nearly 4% in extended trading after the CFO's forecast. The shares ended the regular session down 2.7% at $237.52.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has said the broader AI infrastructure market will grow to $3 trillion to $4 trillion by 2030.

AMD's next-generation MI400 series of AI chips is set to launch in 2026 and include several variants designed for scientific applications and for generative AI. Along with the MI400 chips, AMD is also planning to launch a complete server rack, similar to a product Nvidia sells called the GB200 NVL72.

In her opening remarks Su highlighted the company's recent AI-related acquisitions, including the server builder ZT Systems and a slew of smaller software companies. AMD has built "an M&A machine," Su said.

In recent months, AMD has acquired a batch of startups that focus on building software needed to run AI applications. On Monday, AMD said it bought MK1. The plan is to ensure AMD has access to the appropriate software and the people it needs to build its AI capabilities, Chief Strategy Officer Mat Hein told Reuters in an interview.

"We'll continue to do AI software tuck-ins," said Hein.

Last week, the Santa Clara, California-based company forecast fourth-quarter revenue that topped Wall Street estimates. Demand for AI chips gave AMD executives a reason for optimism about the remainder of the year. The company's data center CPU business has also benefitted from the surge in AI-related spending.

The company last held an analyst day in 2022.

AMD signed a multiyear deal with ChatGPT creator OpenAI in October that will bring the company more than $100 billion in new revenue over four years from OpenAI and other customers. As part of the arrangement, OpenAI will receive warrants that allow it to purchase a stake of up to 10% in the chipmaker.

The OpenAI deal was an arrangement with a much-needed large customer for AMD, which has not yet captured the outsized returns from the boom in AI spending as Nvidia has.

(Reporting by Max A. Cherney in New York, Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Peter Henderson and Matthew Lewis)