Wanted to update that I see this move to open source AI from Meta as potentially beneficial to Supermicro. Meta is Supermicro’s largest customer and two quarters ago they accounted for 26% of revenue.
I recently learned from another podcast that Meta has very strict guidelines about what type of hardware is allowed in their data centers. One of the main specifications is that absolutely no proprietary software or hardware components are allowed, because they don’t want vendor lock-in. Supermicro has passed this requirement to be open and configurable, and that includes their liquid cooling solution.
Meta with this move to open source AI has also committed to investing heavily in the creation of Llama 4 and Llama 5 in a multi-year build out. This shows that Meta’s commitment to AI is likely to lead to multi-years worth of purchases from Supermicro.
The CEO Charles Liang had been talking about a customer in a CNBC interview where the customer was concerned if Supermicro could deliver at scale. Liang confirmed they indeed could meet the demand. I believe this is referring to a conversation between Mark Zuckerberg and Charles Liang, although Zuckerberg was never mentioned by name.
Additionally, Supermicro is expanding their San Jose manufacturing facility, which is right next to Meta HQ so they are likely get the fastest time to market of any customer as well.