AMD unveils 256‑core Zen 6 Epyc 9006 “Venice” server processor

AMD announced its first Zen 6‑based server CPUs at the Advancing AI 2026 event, introducing the Epyc 9006 “Venice”. The flagship chip features up to 256 Zen 6c cores and 512 threads, using 2 nm CPU chiplets paired with identical 6 nm I/O chiplets. It connects through a 7536‑contact LGA socket SP8 and supports PCIe 6.0 with 128 lanes, CXL 3.1, and a 16‑channel DDR5 memory controller capable of DDR5‑12800 speeds and up to 1.6 TB/s bandwidth.

AMD says the processor is designed for agent‑AI workloads, delivering up to 80 % higher multi‑thread performance than the previous Epyc 9005 “Turin”. The company also previewed a larger Helios system that would combine multiple Venice CPUs for a total of 4 608 cores and 9 216 threads, along with Instinct MI455X AI accelerators. The launch positions AMD to compete directly with Nvidia’s server offerings in the high‑performance AI data‑center market.