AMD in the Fast Lane: Battle for AI Supremacy

The semiconductor manufacturer AMD is optimistic about challenging Nvidia's current market leadership in the field of AI processors. Led by CEO Lisa Su, the Silicon Valley company has introduced new products targeting a market worth several hundred billion dollars. Starting from the fourth quarter of this year, the new MI325X chip, which reportedly offers "industry-leading" performance compared to Nvidia's current generation H200 AI chips, will be delivered to customers. AMD plans to launch its next MI350 chip in the second half of 2025, intended to compete with Nvidia's new Blackwell system. Under Lisa Su, who took over leadership in 2014, AMD transformed from near bankruptcy into a serious competitor in the AI sector and aims to lead in AI technology in the next ten years. "This is the beginning, not the end of the AI race," Su declared. Recent developments indicate that Nvidia's clients may soon be adopting Blackwell. Microsoft recently announced it will be the first cloud provider to offer customers the new GB200 chips. Although AMD still lags behind Nvidia—with an expected revenue of 4.5 billion USD in 2024 compared to Nvidia's 26.3 billion USD in the last quarter alone—Su is confident that the demand for AI infrastructure will continue to grow. In addition to chips, AMD has also introduced new networking technologies and extensions to its ROCm software toolkit, all aimed at offering AI infrastructures that are efficient and scalable. "People want large clusters in a server," Su explained, urging the company to take ambitious steps towards AI dominance. Lisa Su, who worked at renowned technology companies before joining AMD in 2012, has significantly shaped the company's strategy. Under her leadership, AMD has successfully diversified and now competes not only with Nvidia but also with companies like Intel for market share. With a market capitalization now almost three times that of Intel, Su sees AI as the primary driver for AMD's future growth. In conclusion, Su expressed optimism about attracting more customers willing to embrace new architectures: both Microsoft and Meta are already using AMD's MI300 GPUs, and Amazon could soon follow, according to Su. To catch up, AMD has invested in an expansive investment and acquisition strategy, including the purchase of ZT Systems for 4.9 billion USD.