Why AMD CEO Lisa Su Dismisses AI Bubble Fears

AMD CEO Lisa Su shut down talk of an AI bubble at WIRED’s Big Interview event in San Francisco this week. Asked directly if the tech industry is in one, she said, “emphatically, from my perspective, no.” Fears of a bubble are “somewhat overstated,” she added, pointing to the huge need for chips to build AI infrastructure.

Since Su took over AMD in 2014, the company’s market cap has jumped from $2 billion to $353 billion today, per WIRED. Nvidia still leads at $4.4 trillion, but AMD is closing in. Su’s focus is on data centers that power AI, where demand for her company’s Instinct GPUs is strong.

Real Demand, Not Hype

Su repeated her stance at the UBS Global Technology and AI Conference on December 2. “From the standpoint of, you know, do we see a bubble? We don’t see a bubble,” she told investors, according to Business Insider and Proactive Investors. It’s a supercycle driven by actual needs, not speculation, as covered in Seeking Alpha.

Proof shows up in deals like AMD’s pact with OpenAI. The AI firm will deploy 6 gigawatts of AMD GPUs over years, starting next year, and got a 10% stake in AMD for pennies per share. Su sees AI as early-stage tech with room to grow: “As good as the models are today, the next one will be better.”

Why No Bubble Fears

Massive chip demand for AI data centers
AMD’s growth track record under Su
Big customer wins like OpenAI
AI’s early phase and improving models
No fear of rivals like Nvidia, Google, or Amazon

What worries Su? Speeding up innovation. “How do we move faster when it comes to innovation?” she said at the WIRED event. Even with hurdles like a 15% US tax on MI308 chip shipments to China—costing $800 million earlier this year—Su bets on sustained demand. DigiTimes noted her rejection of bubble claims amid those China plans.

Bubble talk is everywhere: “AI bubble” mentions spiked 740% in recent earnings calls and conferences, per AlphaSense data in Business Insider. Execs like Nvidia’s Jensen Huang push back too. Su’s view: keep building for the future.