Johns Hopkins University

Lisa Su explores the current state and future of AI, U.S.-based chip manufacturing

As someone with a front-row seat to the AI race, Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a company that designs and develops the chips behind AI advances, knows that in order to keep the U.S. competitive in the sector, her engineers must work on a timeline that has “negative slack.” Put simply: They must work faster than their runway.

“I say it’s negative slack is because the industry is moving so fast,” she said, speaking of the AI sector at a live podcast recording of On with Kara Swisher at the Hopkins Bloomberg Center. “I’ve just not seen an industry move this fast.”

The speed of innovation—and how it intersects with issues like tariffs and export controls—is top of mind for Su as her company navigates an industry that’s at the center of national security and tech innovation. Here are four things she’s seeing play out in AI and what she sees as critical to ensuring the U.S. remains ahead.