How Chip Giant AMD Finally Caught Intel

Chip giant Advanced Micro Devices made history this year when it surpassed Intel by market cap for the first time ever. Intel has long held the lead in the market for computer processors, but AMD’s been on the rise since it acquired adaptive chip company Xilinx in February for $49 billion. Now, AMD chips are in two Tesla models, NASA’s Mars Perseverance land rover, 5G cell towers and the world’s fastest supercomputer. CNBC sat down with CEO Lisa Su to hear about AMD’s remarkable comeback, huge bets on new types of chips in the face of a PC slump, new restrictions on exports to China, and shifting industry trends.

The future of computer chips is being made in Albany, NY

We’re in a computer chip shortage, and the world needs new solutions — fast. Everything we do revolves around chips: Our cars, our businesses, our lives, all are powered by computers. Without access to new chips, life as we know it grinds to a halt.

Today, most semiconductors are produced overseas, and the pandemic greatly impacted both chip production and supply chains, while demand hasn’t slowed. There’s also growing demand for new types of chips, to run things like complex AI models, quantum computers, and massive cloud computing systems.

Up in Albany, New York, researchers are working to address the chip shortage now, as well as design the new types of chips the world will need moving forward. These efforts could be aided by President Biden’s calls to build semiconductors in the US, and the recent signing of the CHIPS and Science Act, which allocates billions in funding for R&D of new chips in the States.

Research carried out in Albany has helped usher in the digital age we currently live in. And the research happening today has the potential to change how we discover new materials, cure illnesses, communicate, travel, work, and live.