AMD and Celestica Partner on Helios Rack-Scale AI Platform

AMD and Celestica have partnered on the Helios Rack-Scale AI Platform. This collaboration aims to advance the next era of AI. Details about the platform's specifics and capabilities remain unknown due to the lack of content.

AMD and CLS announced a strategic collaboration on March 16 to bring the "Helios" rack-scale AI platform to market, pairing AMD's computing leadership with Celestica's expertise in networking switch technologies. At launch, Celestica will handle R&D, design, and manufacturing of scale-up networking switches based on the Open Compute Project (OCP) Open-Rack-Wide form factor, utilizing the next-generation AMD Instinct MI450 Series GPUs.

The Helios platform employs the Ultra Accelerator Link over Ethernet (UALoE) architecture for scale-up connectivity, positioning it as a direct competitor to NVIDIA's proprietary NVLink ecosystem. The open-standards approach could appeal to hyperscalers and enterprises seeking vendor flexibility in their AI infrastructure buildouts. Helios is expected to be available to customers in late 2026, targeting cloud, enterprise, and research deployments.

The partnership comes as AMD intensifies its push into the AI data center market, where NVDA currently dominates. Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers maintained a Buy rating on AMD with a $345 price target, citing "insatiable data center compute demand" in 2026. RBC Capital noted robust demand for the MI450 GPU and Helios systems, with major hyperscaler deployments expected in H2 2026.