AMD denies MI455X delay, reaffirms delivery of flagship AI system Helios in the second half of 2026

2026-02-21 22:48:20

Tech News Home, February 18 — The technology media Wccftech today (February 18) published a blog post stating that regarding the rumor of a possible delay for AMD’s new generation AI chip Instinct MI455X, AMD quickly denied the reports and clarified that the Helios system will be launched on schedule in the second half of 2026.

Note from Tech News Home: Instinct MI455X / Helios Systems are AMD’s planned next-generation high-performance AI accelerators and their supporting server system platform, competing with NVIDIA’s top AI products, mainly used for large model training and inference.

Semiconductor analysis firm SemiAnalysis recently released a report suggesting that AMD’s next-generation Instinct MI455X chip may face manufacturing issues, leading to delays in adoption.

SemiAnalysis analyst Dylan Patel pointed out that the transition from traditional FinFET transistors to GAA (Gate-All-Around) structures may introduce microscopic manufacturing defects, resulting in lower initial yields.

Additionally, issues with line resistance and capacitance could impact performance, and managing the interconnects based on the new N2GAA structure (UAlink) is also a major challenge. As a result, while engineering samples are expected to be ready by the second half of 2026, mass production might not occur until the second quarter of 2027.

In response to these concerns, AMD quickly issued a statement firmly denying any delay. The company’s official position is that the Helios AI system based on MI455X is progressing as planned and will be released in the second half of 2026.

The media pointed out that AMD has long been committed to breaking NVIDIA’s monopoly in the infrastructure sector, but over the past few quarters, its market adoption has lagged due to capacity constraints, differences in software ecosystem (ROCm), and the proactive strategies of competitors.

Although the Instinct MI455X shows excellent specifications on paper and is regarded as a strong competitor, the actual timeline from sample to final deployment will be a key factor in determining whether it can challenge NVIDIA’s dominance.

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