At the recent WIRED Big Interview conference in San Francisco, AMD CEO Lisa Su addressed widespread concerns about a potential bubble in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector. Su strongly dismissed these fears as "somewhat overstated, " emphasizing that AI technology remains in its early stages with enormous untapped potential. Her remarks come amidst a rapidly advancing AI market where both hardware capabilities and applications are evolving swiftly but have yet to reach full maturity. During her speech, Su highlighted AMD’s solid positioning and readiness to handle the growing demand for AI computing power. She announced plans for a significant multi-gigawatt accelerator deployment in partnership with OpenAI. This collaboration is notable because OpenAI intends to deploy six gigawatts of AMD’s Instinct GPUs, underscoring the increasing reliance on specialized, high-performance hardware to support sophisticated AI models. Moreover, the agreement with OpenAI includes an option allowing OpenAI to purchase up to 160 million AMD shares at a nominal price—a strategic move that aligns both parties’ incentives and fosters a long-term, mutually beneficial collaboration. This financial arrangement signals AMD’s confidence in the expanding AI market and solidifies its role as a crucial supplier of AI hardware infrastructure. Besides its work with OpenAI, AMD has also resumed shipments of its MI308 GPUs to China following revised export conditions. This development represents a positive shift after earlier strict export controls that had constrained AMD’s access to that market and complicated its global operations.

While the company now faces a 15% export tax on products shipped to China, Su considers the restored access a favorable step that helps offset potential financial impacts from previous restrictions. Su also commented on competitive pressures from major cloud service providers increasingly designing their own AI-optimized semiconductor chips. Although this presents new challenges, she expressed confidence in AMD’s strategic focus on accelerating its innovation trajectory. The company is investing heavily to ensure its technologies remain cutting-edge and capable of meeting the demanding requirements of next-generation AI workloads. Highlighting the technical complexities involved, Su noted that AI performance needs are constantly evolving, justifying ongoing investment in high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure. Over the past decade, AMD has steadily rebuilt and expanded its HPC presence, and the surging AI interest has reinforced the critical importance of this commitment. In summary, Lisa Su’s comments demonstrate AMD’s optimism and clear strategy in navigating the dynamic AI landscape. By cultivating strong partnerships, driving innovation aggressively, and adapting to shifting market conditions, AMD aims to cement its position as a key enabler of global AI technology growth. According to Su, the AI revolution is still in its infancy, offering substantial room for development and innovation, debunking worries of an imminent industry bubble and underscoring the necessity of sustained investment in AI hardware infrastructure.