AMD's Lisa Su dismisses AI bubble concerns, praises Taiwan's supply chain and says more innovation is yet to come

AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su said the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom remains in its early stages, dismissing concerns over an AI bubble while arguing that Taiwan’s semiconductor ecosystem will remain central to the next decade of technological transformation.

Speaking at Commonwealth Magazine's 45th anniversary summit in Taipei on Friday (May 22), Su likened the current state of AI to "the third inning" of a baseball game, arguing the sector still has enormous room for growth.

Su pushed back against concerns that the AI frenzy may be a bubble, saying instead that AI represents a transformative technological revolution. She said future innovations in AI would increasingly benefit companies, governments, organizations, and individuals, and that the technology will continue reshaping industries and daily life over the next three to 10 years.

Industry experts, suppliers, investors, and media from Taiwan and abroad gathered for the annual summit as global demand for AI computing power continues to surge amid intensifying US-China tech competition and ongoing supply chain restructuring.

During her speech, Su devoted significant attention to Taiwan’s semiconductor ecosystem, the future direction of AI development, and AMD’s evolving role in the global technology landscape.

She noted that a decade ago, only a relatively small group of specialists truly understood semiconductors and high-performance computing. Today, semiconductors have become a strategic priority not only for the tech industry, but also for business leaders and governments worldwide.

A small island providing everything: Taiwan’s supply chain remains central to AI

Discussing Taiwan, Su repeatedly emphasized the uniqueness of the island’s semiconductor cluster.

She described Taiwan as a “small island” that nevertheless encompasses nearly every critical link in the semiconductor supply chain, including basic materials, advanced manufacturing, backend packaging and testing, system integration, OEM and ODM manufacturers, and large-scale production capacity.

According to Su, this highly concentrated and deeply collaborative ecosystem is exceptionally rare globally and remains one of Taiwan’s most irreplaceable competitive advantages in the AI era.

She also highlighted what she described as Taiwan’s distinctive business culture, where companies can remain fierce competitors while still maintaining friendly and cooperative relationships with one another.

Su further stated that Taiwanese firms are no longer merely contract manufacturers, but are increasingly becoming global players with expanding international influence — a development she described as positive for the broader industry.

AMD expands Taiwan investment, praises TSMC’s Arizona operations

Su reaffirmed AMD’s continued expansion of its partnerships with Taiwan’s supply chain, including increased investment in advanced packaging and testing capabilities.

She said AMD has invested more than US$10 billion in Taiwan’s advanced packaging and testing ecosystem. Su also confirmed that AMD’s next-generation processor, codenamed “Venice,” has officially taped out and will utilize TSMC’s most advanced 2-nanometer process technology.

She added that AMD now employs more than 1,800 people in Taiwan and has expanded to 10 locations across the island in recent years.

Addressing concerns surrounding yield performance at TSMC’s Arizona fabs, Su offered an optimistic assessment.

She said AMD’s chips produced at the Arizona facilities have been performing well, contradicting skepticism from some observers who argued that TSMC’s manufacturing quality might decline after expanding production to the US.

According to Su, the reason lies in the successful transfer of the Taiwanese experience abroad, with both sides learning from one another throughout the process.

She added that the collaborative culture developed within Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain over decades remains one of the industry’s key competitive strengths.

AI everywhere, for everyone

A major portion of Su’s speech focused on AMD’s broader AI vision.

She said the company aims to promote “AI Everywhere for Everyone,” making AI tools broadly accessible across industries, businesses, and everyday life.

Su argued that AI’s future extends far beyond chatbots, with applications expected to increasingly influence diverse tasks such as product design, corporate management, and scientific discovery.

She pointed specifically to advances in AI inference capabilities, saying they would help companies tackle increasingly complex problems.

Looking ahead, she said that mature “agentic AI” systems could eventually allow individuals to deploy multiple AI agents simultaneously to handle different tasks in parallel. Companies, she added, may also use AI to dramatically accelerate chip design cycles.

Su said AMD itself hopes to eventually cut semiconductor design timelines in half through the use of AI technologies.

She stressed that AI is evolving at a pace rarely seen in previous technological cycles, describing the industry as undergoing major changes “every few months.”

Su also revealed that AMD has spent the past year and a half — especially the last 12 months — aggressively promoting AI education and workforce training internally, including customized programs tailored for employees across different departments and functions.

AMD’s ongoing China presence and continued confidence in TSMC

During the media Q&A session following the summit, Su discussed recent changes in the semiconductor market.

She noted that the CPU market historically expanded by only around 3% to 4% annually, but has recently experienced explosive growth driven by AI demand, with certain products even facing supply shortages — an area where AMD currently sees strong momentum.

She added that the CPU market could grow at an annual rate of over 35% in the next five years.

Regarding the Chinese market, her recent visit to China and the Trump-Xi summit, Su emphasized that AMD would fully comply with US export control regulations while also adhering to Chinese laws and regulations.

She said AMD’s most advanced products would not be shipped to China, but stressed that the company has no intention of abandoning the Chinese market and will continue maintaining close engagement with Chinese customers under legal and regulatory frameworks.

Asked whether she remains optimistic about TSMC amid tightening global supply chains, Su again expressed strong confidence.

As AI demand continues driving the need for advanced manufacturing capacity and massive computing power, she said Taiwan’s semiconductor ecosystem will remain a critical pillar of the global AI industry for years to come.

Female leadership: Lessons learned from a Taiwanese mother

Reflecting on her personal journey at the annual summit, Su also spoke about the influence of her mother, who built her own business from the ground up and became an important role model in shaping her outlook on leadership and perseverance.

Su and her parents, all born in Tainan, immigrated to the US when she was very young, moving into a new environment where a different language is spoken.

When Su was about 12 years old, her mother, with no entrepreneurial background, decided to start a company in the US, building a multi-million dollar enterprise from scratch.

Su recounted that her mother used to tell her, "One day you'll have to join my company." Even after Su joined AMD, she said, her mother would still say that.

She recalled her own early experiences entering the technology industry and encouraged more women to consider careers in engineering, describing it as one of the most merit-driven professions.

“Engineering is a wonderful career for women,” Su said. “It doesn’t care whether you are male or female — it cares whether your ideas are good or bad.”

As one of the relatively few female leaders in the global semiconductor industry, Su said meaningful change in technology ultimately comes from the strength of ideas rather than gender.

“If you have truly great ideas, you can genuinely change the world,” she said.