AMD CEO Lisa Su talks about AI, chips, and the technology game between the US and China, and is optimistic about the direction of the Trump administration's policies.

AMD CEO Lisa Su, who just won the TIME 2024 CEO honor, attended the annual event hosted by TIME magazine with her husband on 12/12 and discussed profound insights on AI, the future of the chip industry, US-China competition, and corporate competition during the interview.

Optimistic about the Trump administration, promising to produce the most advanced chips in the United States within 3 to 5 years

Su Zidong first responded to the impact of Trump’s rise to power on the chip industry. What is most needed in business, she said, is “stability,” and the Trump administration’s policies will determine the direction of the industry over the next four years. She is optimistic about the overall economy, but mentioned that semiconductors are still a sensitive issue and policy changes need to be closely monitored.

Facing the pressure from the U.S. government to ‘reshore’ the semiconductor supply chain, Su Zifeng said that AMD will produce the most advanced chips in the U.S. in the next 3 to 5 years. She mentioned that the importance of chip production location began to emerge during the epidemic.

“Five years ago, almost no one cared where the chips were made. Many supply chains were forced to shut down, and technical products such as cars and computers could not be supplied, which led the world to start paying attention to chip manufacturing.” She said that AMD is currently accelerating chip manufacturing capabilities in the United States, especially in Arizona, which has become a major hub for semiconductor manufacturing in the United States.

The technology competition between the United States and China is heating up, calling for stronger dialogue and cooperation between the public and private sectors.

As China launches an antitrust investigation against NVIDIA, the semiconductor industry once again becomes the focus of the US-China game. Su Zifeng admitted that chips have become a sensitive issue because they involve national security. However, she emphasized the key is balance and called for enhanced dialogue and cooperation between the public and private sectors to promote balanced development of the industry. ‘We hope to enter this important market in China while safeguarding national security,’ she appealed.

The development of AI in the next 5 to 10 years is a golden period, which can reduce energy consumption and shorten the development time.

Su Zifeng bluntly stated that AI is the most forward-looking technology she has seen in her many years of career. She said, “The current development of AI is just the beginning. When you see this new technology today, you will be amazed. But in a few months, there will be new updates.” She emphasized that the development of AI is still in the initial stage of the learning curve, and the next 5 to 10 years will be the golden period of AI growth. Whether it is in the medical, energy, or daily use fields, AI will continue to break through. Please provide the text to be translated. Regarding the high energy consumption issue of AI, Su Zifeng believes that although AI will consume a large amount of energy, in the long run, this will help solve the problem of energy waste. She cited an example: AI can accelerate the process of simulating drug development, reducing the research time from several months or years to a few days or weeks, thus enabling more efficient resource utilization.

The three major chip giants are both rivals and friends, stimulating progress in the industry.

When asked if AMD has the opportunity to surpass Nvidia, Su Zifeng candidly and pragmatically said: ‘The market allows more than one company to succeed, but the key is whether we can continue to introduce new technologies that change the world.’ In addition, she mentioned that AMD has cooperation with Intel in certain areas, and of course, they will also compete with each other. This balance helps drive the progress of the entire industry.

Abandoning the mobile tablet market, optimistic about the forward-looking of large computers

When looking back on AMD’s growth path, Su Zifeng mentioned that when she took over as CEO in 2014, she chose to give up entering the mobile phone and tablet market and focus on developing high-performance large computers, such as servers and CPUs. She jokingly said, ‘10 years ago, everyone had little interest in large computers, and everyone wanted a share of the pie from mobile phones and tablets, but now there is a huge demand for AI worldwide, and large computers have become very attractive!’

She believes that as a leader, it is important to be clear about what your company truly excels at and focus on areas that can truly change the world. Her choices have proven to solidify AMD’s position in the fields of AI and supercomputing.

(Not Huang Renxun! AMD’s Su Zifeng appears on the cover of Time magazine in 2024 and receives the honor of the best CEO of the year)

This article was first published on the Chain News ABMedia, in which AMD CEO Su Zifeng talks about AI, chips, and the US-China technology game, and is optimistic about the Trump administration’s policy direction.