AMD Unveils Helion Rack Reference Design for Agentic AI with 32k Zen 6 Cores

AMD unveiled Helion at the OCP Global Summit on October 12, a new rack-scale reference design optimized for agentic AI workloads. Based on the Open Compute Project's ORv4 specification, the design supports up to 128 EPYC 'Venice' 9996 processors in a CPU-only configuration, totaling 32,768 Zen 6 cores per rack.

Unlike the previous Helios design focused on GPU training and inference, Helion targets high-density CPU compute required for agentic sandbox environments. It supports both air and liquid cooling and offers hybrid configurations with MI350P GPUs for enterprise all-in-one deployments.

AMD will not sell the racks directly but contributes the design to OCP for OEMs and ODMs to manufacture. Systems based on Helion are expected to become available in the first half of 2027, coinciding with the ramp-up of Zen 6 processor production.