AMD's Lisa Su "AI bubble exaggerated"

Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, said about the AI bubble theory raised in the market, "To be clear, I don't think so."

In an interview with U.S. outlet WIRED on the 4th (local time), Su said, "The fear surrounding the AI bubble theory is somewhat exaggerated," and added, "Just as AI models are good now, the next models will be more advanced."

Regarding big tech companies like Google and Amazon developing their own AI chips, she said, "What keeps me awake at night is thinking about 'how we can achieve innovation more quickly.'"

AMD is rapidly chasing NVIDIA in the AI chip market, having signed a contract early last month to supply OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, with AI chips worth tens of billions of dollars annually. The partnership has also been strengthened, including provisions allowing OpenAI to acquire about 10% of AMD at one cent per share.

Su also mentioned in the interview that she is prepared to pay a 15% tax to the U.S. government to export the low-end MI308 chip to China.

AMD's low-end MI308 chip, along with NVIDIA's H20 chip, has been blocked from export to China since last April. AI chip companies such as AMD and NVIDIA have negotiated to pay 15% of revenue generated in China to the government as a condition for exporting semiconductors to China.

AMD's sales in China were only 5% in 2023, but surged to 24% last year as Chinese tech companies increased AI investment and bought AMD chips.

There is also an interpretation that AMD proactively reached an agreement with the U.S. government to try to take the China market that NVIDIA once dominated.

Before U.S. export controls, NVIDIA's share of China's AI chip market reached 95%, but afterwards it plunged to 0%.

Uimyung Park, reporter uimyung@hankyung.com