Disclosure: Microsoft and AMD are clients of the author.
The AMD keynote at CES 2023 was worth watching this year because AMD stepped away from its typical “speeds and feeds” presentation about processors and GPUs. Instead, the presentation was dominated by partners who spoke about what they’re doing with AMD technology. That allowed AMD to step out from under Intel’s shadow as one of the major companies enabling its partners to define the future.
AMD, of course, highlighted its technology and aggressively pointed out how it’s outperforming rivals. But this time, it had full back-up from partners on stage who could validate the results. What was also fascinating was that each partner seemed to know AMD CEO Lisa Su and obviously liked her. This is important in a partnership and showcases AMD’s unique advantage in the x86 space. (One interesting comment in passing: Teslas plan to feature AMD for in-car gaming in the future. One undercurrent from the show was that almost every car maker showcased some kind of gaming partnership, suggesting that once cars drive themselves, we’ll all become gamers.)
