As fears grow that artificial intelligence could wipe out millions of jobs, Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su is offering a message that cuts both ways: AI isn’t replacing workers — but it is reshaping who gets hired.
Speaking Tuesday at the CES conference in Las Vegas, Su said artificial intelligence has not slowed hiring at AMD, even as AI transforms how the company designs and builds its chips.
Instead, the company is expanding — but with a sharper focus on workers who know how to work with AI.
“We’re actually not hiring fewer people,” Su told CNBC. “Frankly, we’re growing very significantly as a company, so we’re hiring lots of people — but we’re hiring different people. We’re hiring people who are AI forward.”
AI Isn’t Killing Jobs — It’s Changing Them
AMD sits at the heart of the AI boom. The company designs graphics processing units (GPUs) that power everything from AI model training to large-scale data centers, putting it in direct competition with Nvidia, which currently dominates the AI chip market.
As AI surged into the mainstream following the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT about three years ago, anxiety over job losses has spread far beyond Silicon Valley — touching factory floors, offices, and even white-collar professions once thought immune to automation.
Su pushed back on the idea that AI is hollowing out the workforce.
“AI is augmenting our capabilities,” she said. “It’s not replacing people. It’s actually increasing our productivity — the number of products we can bring to market at any given time.”
In practical terms, AMD is using AI to help design, manufacture, and test chips faster and more efficiently. That shift, Su said, makes human workers more valuable — but only if they’re willing to adapt.
While AMD continues to add jobs, Su made clear that the bar has moved.
Candidates who “truly embrace” AI — who are comfortable using it as a tool rather than resisting it — are rising to the top. Those who don’t risk being left behind, not because AI replaces them outright, but because their skill set no longer fits how modern companies operate.
That distinction matters as AI adoption accelerates. Su said she expects more than 5 billion AI users globally by 2030, signaling that AI fluency could soon be as fundamental as basic computer literacy.
Su’s optimism contrasts with recent warnings from policymakers. On Monday, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said AI is prompting some large companies to slow hiring, contributing to what he described as a labor market marked by both low hiring and low layoffs.
AMD, however, appears to be moving in the opposite direction. As of December 2024, the company employed about 28,000 workers worldwide, according to regulatory filings, and Su said growth remains strong.
The Bottom Line for Workers
For employees watching AI spread across industries, Su’s message is both reassuring and blunt:
AI may not take your job — but someone who knows how to use AI might.
Rather than eliminating workers, AI is quietly rewriting the definition of who is employable, turning adaptability into a career survival skill.
As Su put it, the future isn’t about humans versus machines — it’s about humans who know how to work with them.
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