Hacker Demands $100 Million For Safely Returning AMD GPU Graphics Code

It looks like one of AMD's graphics card is stolen. Popular chip-maker AMD itself acknowledged that a hacker stole some of the company's graphics IP and is reportedly demanding $100 million for its safe return. What's more? The theft isn't all that recent as the incident took place back in December 2019.

AMD Graphics Card Stolen

AMD posted a statement on its website regarding the theft of the graphics card. The company was contacted in December 2019 by an individual who claimed to have access to 'test files' for the company's current and future graphics products.

To further prove his/her point, a few of the assets were posted online to the graphics GitHub before AMD took them down with a DCMA notice. The person in question here says that the 'additional files' have been obtained, apart from the ones made publicly available, AMD said.

What Was Stolen

Going into the details, TorrentFreak reports that the hacker stole the graphics code related to AMD's Navi and Arden GPUs. Speculations noted that the AMD Arden CPU is the codename for the 12-teraflop Xbox Series X GPU.

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Furthermore, the hacker told TorrentFreak that the AMD source code was discovered on an 'unprotected computer/server' and accessed it by using 'some exploits'. The hacker notes that the value of the source code is easily $100 million, but it's unclear how they arrived at that figure.

AMD Taking Action

Currently, AMD is working with law enforcement and experts to get back the graphics IP. However, the company attempted to downplay the significance of the breach, the report notes. "We believe the stolen graphics IP is not core to the competitiveness or security of our graphics products," AMD said.

Furthermore, the chip-maker further noted that no other AMD tech is with other hackers or hacker's control at this time. It should be noted that the hacker has further threatened that they would "just leak everything" if AMD doesn't pay up the demanded ransom.