AMD CEO Lisa Su on the Chipmaker's AI Forecast | Bloomberg Tech 8/6/2025

Key Concepts:

• Domestic Manufacturing Investment: Apple's commitment to invest in U.S. manufacturing and supply chain.
• AI Accelerators: Hardware designed to speed up AI and machine learning tasks.
• Data Center Growth: Expansion of computing infrastructure, driven by AI and other data-intensive applications.
• China Business: Challenges and opportunities for U.S. tech companies in the Chinese market, including regulatory hurdles and competition.
• Streaming and Sports: The convergence of streaming services and live sports content, exemplified by Disney's strategy.
• Revenue Diversification: Efforts by companies like Snap to expand their revenue streams beyond advertising.
• Mobile Gaming: The importance of mobile gaming for companies like Unity and the dynamics of the mobile advertising market.
• Valuation: The estimated worth of a company, particularly in the context of private share sales (e.g., OpenAI).
• Supply Chain Diversification: Reducing reliance on a single country or region for manufacturing and sourcing components.

1. Apple's Investment in U.S. Manufacturing

• Commitment: The White House announced that Apple will commit an additional $100 billion to U.S. manufacturing and supply chain.
• Cumulative Investment: This brings Apple's total investment pledge to $600 billion, building on a previous $500 billion commitment over four years.
• Investment Areas: The investment will go towards a new manufacturing program, including a factory in Texas that holds AI servers, 20,000 jobs in the U.S., training, and research and development.
• Production Shift: The investment may not be enough for a full production shift to the U.S.
• U.S. Suppliers: Currently, 24% of Apple's suppliers are based in the U.S., the most of any country.
• Tariffs: Tim Cook has been lobbying for a carveout from potential tariffs, as President Trump previously threatened a 25% tariff if Apple did not move production to the U.S.
• Tariffs on India: There is a threat of higher tariffs to India, where Apple has been shifting some supply chains.
• Russian Energy Supply: President is proposing an additional 25% tariff over the imports of Russian energy supply which would bring the tariff rate on the company up to 50%.

2. Disney's Earnings and Streaming Strategy

• Earnings: Disney reported third-quarter revenue slightly below expectations, but highlighted strength in streaming.
• Revenue Growth: General revenue growth was 2%, with the traditional part of the business (movie studio, cable, broadcast channels) showing decline.
• Offsetting Growth: Growth in streaming and parks offset the decline in traditional business.
• ESPN: Disney is building ESPN into a preeminent digital sports platform with a direct-to-consumer sports offering launching on August 21.
• NFL Deal: Disney announced plans with the NFL to expand ESPN programming and content offerings for fans.
• Sports and Streaming: Sports and streaming are a huge part of Disney's strategy to create advertising revenue.
• WWE Deal: Disney announced a deal with WWE, bringing live events including Wrestlemania to the new ESPN product.
• Regulatory Concerns: There may be regulatory concerns about Disney getting too much power in the world of sports.
• Succession Issue: The succession issue at Disney never quite goes away, and investors are focused on who will replace Bob Iger.

3. AMD's Performance and AI Accelerator Outlook

• Strong Performance: AMD had a very strong first half of the year, with second-quarter revenue up 32% year-over-year and guidance for a third quarter of 28%.
• Data Center Business: The data center business is doing extremely well, with server CPUs continuing to gain share in cloud and enterprise.
• AI Investments: AI investments from the largest hyperscalers are pulling both GPU and CPU revenue.
• PC and Gaming: AMD is seeing strength in PC and gaming, with products well-positioned in both consumer and commercial markets.
• AI Accelerator Growth: AMD expects the AI accelerator business to grow to the tens of billions of dollars.
• MI 355: AMD launched a new product in June, the MI 355, which is driving some of the second-half growth.
• AI Market Size: The AI market for data centers will be over $500 billion over the next couple of years.
• Annual Cadence: AMD has accelerated its roadmap and is on an annual cadence, with a new capability coming next year with the MI 400 series.
• China Licenses: AMD has seen an improvement in the last 90 days regarding licenses to ship to China.
• Inventory: AMD has $800 million in inventory that it couldn't access China for a while.
• Chinese Chipmakers: Chinese domestic chipmakers have made progress on accelerators.
• Competitive Environment: AMD is always looking at the competitive environment and is well-positioned overall.
• CPU Market Share: AMD is capturing market share in the CPU market, driven by competitive products and strong demand.
• Gaming: AMD is seeing a very strong product cycle in gaming.

4. Snap's Earnings and Challenges

• Dismal Quarter: Snap reported a dismal quarter, with earnings falling short of expectations.
• Ad Glitch: A technical issue in ad buying tools set price points too low, resulting in a deceleration of growth.
• Structural Issues: Snap has foundational structural issues within its ad platform and ability to monetize.
• Revamping Ad Platform: Snap has been working hard on revamping its ad platform, focused on direct response.
• Daily Active Users: Snap consistently delivers daily active users, with half a billion of them.
• Snapchat Plus: Snapchat Plus continues to drive a lot of revenue growth.
• Weakness in North America: Snap saw weakness in North America, its core market, which points to structural problems.
• International Markets: Snap will be more reliant on international markets to monetize via ads, which is more challenging.
• AI Advertising: Snap is seeing an increase in S&P advertising, as advertisers are drawn to places where it is easy to advertise.

5. Unity's Performance and Gaming Market

• Better Than Expected Earnings: Unity reported better than expected second-quarter earnings.
• Inflection Point: The second quarter of 2025 was an inflection point for the turnaround.
• Gaming Focus: Gaming is the biggest priority for Unity, as it is effectively the operating system for the global gaming industry.
• Mobile Gaming: 85% of the top advertisers on mobile games advertise with Unity.
• Unity Six Adoption: Unity Six is the fastest adoption of any version of Unity and is stable and performative.
• Ad Space Competition: Unity competes in a big competitive space with some of the largest players.
• Revenue Split: Unity is a partner in the growth of its creators' businesses, delivering more effective tools to help them monetize and acquire users.

6. OpenAI's Valuation and Talent War

• Potential Share Sale: OpenAI is in talks for a potential share sale for current and former employees.
• Valuation: The share sale would value OpenAI at $500 billion, a significant jump from the last $300 billion valuation.
• User Revenue Growth: OpenAI has seen strong user revenue growth.
• Talent War: The timing of the share sale is because of the talent war, as Sam Altman has to keep the workforce happy.
• Employee Liquidity: The share sale gives employees an opportunity to cash out.

7. Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Airbnb Earnings

• Uber: Uber is trading lower, with a small miss in the car right share business offset by strong performance of delivery units.
• Lyft: Lyft expects double-digit growth and will include the Free Now business in its third-quarter outlook.
• DoorDash: DoorDash is expected to post nearly 20% growth on the back of Uber's strong delivered results.
• Airbnb: Airbnb will see the first results from the newly launched experiences in the services business, which has been said to add one billion in annualized revenue.

8. Apple's Supply Chain and Trump Administration

• Trump Administration's View: The Trump administration likes big round numbers and sees Apple's investment as a victory.
• Softening Trump's Ire: Making the pledges is a good way for Apple to soften and dampen Trump's ire.
• Real Production: The real question is how much of a real production of the iPhone will come to the United States.
• Diversifying Supply Chain: It is in Apple's interest to diversify their supply chain, as so much is reliant on China.

Synthesis/Conclusion:

The broadcast covers a range of tech-related topics, from Apple's investment in U.S. manufacturing and Disney's streaming strategy to AMD's performance and AI accelerator outlook. It also discusses Snap's earnings challenges, Unity's gaming market focus, and OpenAI's valuation. The broadcast provides insights into the competitive landscape of the tech industry, the importance of innovation, and the challenges and opportunities that companies face in a rapidly changing market. The key takeaways include the increasing importance of AI, the shift towards streaming and digital platforms, and the need for companies to diversify their revenue streams and supply chains.