DRESDEN, GERMANY - 19 April 2004 - AMD (NYSE: AMD) has announced today that it is planning to hold the topping off ceremony for its AMD Fab 36 in Dresden, Germany on May 17, 2004. Among the expected guests of honor are Germany's Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Prof. Georg Milbradt, the Minister President of the Free State of Saxony, and Hector Ruiz, the President and CEO of AMD.

"Only five months ago we broke ground for our next-generation wafer fab in Dresden. Since then, we have seen a near flawless execution of our construction master plan", said Hans Deppe, vice president and general manager of the AMD site in Dresden. "The shell of the building is already more than 50 percent complete and we have already put the first roof trusses in place. The construction of the central utility building is advancing just as fast. Now that we have made it through the winter, we are even more confident that we will be able to meet the next milestones of the project: AMD Fab 36 is expected to be 'ready for equipment' in late 2004, first silicon test starts are scheduled for mid-2005, and first commercial shipments are planned for the first half of 2006."


AMD Fab 36 will implement the third generation of AMD's Automated Precision Manufacturing (APM 3.0) in the production of 300mm wafers for leading-edge microprocessors. Hiring for the new fab has begun. AMD expects to create approximately 200 new jobs in Dresden this year alone. The headcount of AMD Fab 36 is planned to grow to approximately 1.000 by 2007. The expected investment into AMD Fab 36 amounts to $ 2.4 billion during the same time period.

AMD Fab 36 will be AMD's second microprocessor wafer fab in Dresden. The first facility, AMD Fab 30, started commercial production in Q2 2000. Currently, AMD employs about 2.000 people in Dresden.