AI giveth and AI taketh CPU
Recorded on the floor of HumanX, Ryan is joined by AMD CTO Mark Papermaster to discuss AMD’s silicon strategy for AI borne of their long history of heterogeneous CPU/GPU computing, how chipmakers are dealing the wide range of AI workloads from training to inference, and the paradox of agents both eating up all the compute and helping AMD accelerate chip innovation.
Episode notes:
Want to learn more about the topics Mark and Ryan discussed in this episode? Check out the AMD Advanced Insights podcast, a monthly show hosted by Mark.
Connect with Mark on LinkedIn.
TRANSCRIPT
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#324 Sharon Zhou: Inside AMD's Plan to Build Self-Improving AI
AI is not just getting smarter. It is getting faster by learning how to optimize the hardware it runs on. In this episode, Sharon Zhou, VP of AI at AMD and former Stanford AI researcher, explains how language models are beginning to write and optimize their own GPU kernel code. We explore what self improving AI actually means, how reinforcement learning is used in post training, and why kernel optimization could be one of the most overlooked scaling levers in modern AI. Sharon breaks down how GPU efficiency impacts the cost of training and inference, why catastrophic forgetting remains a challenge in continual learning, and how verifiable rewards from hardware profiling can help models improve themselves. The conversation also dives into compute economics, synthetic data, RLHF, and why infrastructure may define the next phase of AI progress. If you want to understand where AI scaling is really happening beyond bigger models and more data, this episode goes under the hood. Stay Updated: Craig Smith on X: https://x.com/craigss Eye on A.I. on X: https://x.com/EyeOn_AI (00:00) Preview and Intro
(00:25) Sharon Zhou's Background and Transition to AMD
(02:00) What Is Self-Improving AI?
(04:16) What Is a GPU Kernel and Why It Matters
(07:01) Using AI Agents and Evolutionary Strategies to Write Kernels
(11:31) Just-In-Time Optimization and Continual Learning
(13:59) Self-Improving AI at the Infrastructure Layer
(16:15) Synthetic Data and Models Generating Their Own Training Data
(20:48) AMD's AI Strategy: Research Meets Product
(23:22) Inside the NeurIPS Tutorial on AI-Generated Kernels
(30:59) Reinforcement Learning Beyond RLHF
(39:09) 10x Faster Kernels vs 10x More Compute
(41:50) Will Efficiency Reduce Chip Demand?
(42:18) Beyond Language Models: Diffusion, JEPA, and Robotics
(45:34) Educating the Next Generation of AI Builders
Winning the AI Race Part 3: Jensen Huang, Lisa Su, James Litinsky, Chase Lochmiller
(0:00) James Litinsky, MP Materials
(13:32) Lisa Su, AMD
(29:45) Chase Lochmiller, Crusoe
(43:26) Jensen Huang, Nvidia
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AMD CEO Lisa Su on the “Dead Sexy” AI Chips Race - On with Kara Swisher
In 2014, when Lisa Su took over as CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, AMD was on the verge of bankruptcy. Su bet hard on hardware and not only pulled the semiconductor company back from the brink, but also led it to surpass its historical rival, Intel, in market cap. Since the launch of ChatGPT made high-powered chips like AMDs “sexy” again, demand for chips has intensified exponentially, but so has the public spotlight on the industry — including from the federal government.
In a live conversation, at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, as part of their inaugural Discovery Series, Kara talks to Su about her strategy in face of the Trump administration’s tariff and export control threats, how to safeguard the US in the global AI race, and what she says when male tech leaders brag about the size of their GPUs.
Listen to more from On with Kara Swisher here.
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AMD CEO Lisa Su on AI Chips, Trump's Tariffs and the Magic of Open Source
In 2014, when Lisa Su took over as CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, AMD was on the verge of bankruptcy. Su bet hard on hardware and not only pulled the semiconductor company back from the brink, but also led it to surpass its historical rival, Intel, in market cap. Since the launch of ChatGPT made high-powered chips like AMDs “sexy” again, demand for chips has intensified exponentially, but so has the public spotlight on the industry — including from the federal government.
In a live conversation, at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, as part of their inaugural Discovery Series, Kara talks to Su about her strategy in face of the Trump administration’s tariff and export control threats, how to safeguard the US in the global AI race, and what she says when male tech leaders brag about the size of their GPUs.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
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Building a Thriving AI Ecosystem with Lisa Su
Lisa Su has transformed AMD into a global leader in AI and high-performance computing.
In this episode of the AI Revolution (AIR) series , Bob Swan, a16z Operating Partner and former CEO of Intel, sits down with Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, to discuss how her leadership has propelled AMD’s growth and positioned the company at the forefront of AI innovation.
They explore AMD’s pivotal role in democratizing the benefits of gen AI, the evolution of AI computing, and the importance of open ecosystems and partnerships in driving technological breakthroughs.
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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Competition makes for better chip design with AMD CTO Mark Papermaster
Compute is the fuel for the AI revolution, and customers want more chip vendors. AMD CTO Mark Papermaster joins Sarah and Elad on No Priors to discuss AMD’s strategy, their newest GPUs, where inference workloads will live, the chip software stack, how they are thinking about supply chain issues, and what we can expect from AMD in 2024.
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Show Notes:
(0:00) Introduction and Mark’s background
(2:35) AMD background and current markets
(4:40) AMD shifting to AI space
(8:54) AI applications coming out of AMD
(10:57) Software investment
(15:15) The benefits of open-source stacks
(16:58) Evolving GPU market
(20:21) Constraints on GPU production
(24:11) Innovations in chip technology
(27:57) Chip supply chain
(30:18) Future of innovative hardware products
(35:42) What’s next for AMD
SaaStr 707: The Where, When, and How of AI with Theory Ventures, Open AI, MotherDuck and Lamini
SaaStr 707: The Where, When, and How of AI with Theory Ventures, Open AI, MotherDuck and Lamini
Hear the latest insights on AI from leading VC Tomasz Tunguz of Theory Ventures Theory Ventures, joined by Jordan Tigani, Founder and CEO of Mother Duck Maggie Hott, GTM at OpenAI, and Sharon Zhou, Co-Founder and CEO of Lamini. Together they discuss the new architecture for building Software as a Service (SaaS) applications with data & machine learning at their core, moderated by Tomasz.
The focus of the episode centers around the transformative role of data, which has become an integral part of the production stack. The speakers also delve into the implications of this shift and explore how leveraging data within the architecture empowers developers to create more robust, intelligent, and scalable SaaS solutions.
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AMD CEO Lisa Su on the AI revolution
Today, we’re bringing you something a little different. The Code Conference was this week, and we had a great time talking live onstage with all of our guests. We’ll be sharing a lot of these conversations here in the coming days, and the first one we’re sharing is my chat with Dr. Lisa Su, the CEO of AMD.
Lisa and I spoke for half an hour, and we covered an incredible number of topics, especially about AI and the chip supply chain. The balance of supply and demand is overall in a pretty good place right now, Lisa told us, with the notable exception of these high-end GPUs powering all of the large AI models that everyone’s running. The hottest GPU in the game is Nvidia’s H100 chip. But AMD is working to compete with a new chip Lisa told us about called the MI300 that should be as fast as the H100. You’ll also hear Lisa talk about what companies are doing to increase manufacturing capacity.
Finally, Lisa answered questions from the amazing Code audience and talked a lot about how much AMD is using AI inside the company right now. It’s more than you think, although Lisa did say AI is not going to be designing chips all by itself anytime soon.
Okay, Dr. Lisa Su, CEO of AMD. Here we go.
Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23658688
Links:
AI startup Lamini bets future on AMD's Instinct GPUs
Biden signs $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act
Pat Gelsinger came back to turn Intel around — here’s how it’s going
Huawei’s chip breakthrough poses new threat to Apple in China — and questions for Washington
AMD expands AI product lineup with GPU-only Instinct MI300X
Microsoft is reportedly helping AMD expand into AI chips
US curbs AI chip exports from Nvidia and AMD to some Middle East countries
Apple on the iPhone 15 Pro: 'It's Going to be the Best Game Console'
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and was edited by Callie Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Editorial Director is Brooke Minters and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.
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AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su talks new Ryzen 4000 chips and out-performing Intel
Editor-in-chief of The Verge Nilay Patel talks to CEO of AMD Dr Lisa Su at CES 2020 about AMD's new Ryzen laptop chips, the competition with Intel for consumer laptops, and if she is going to take on the high end of Nvidia's GPUs.
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