High-performance compute is the bedrock of generative AI, and if there’s anyone who knows about high-performance chips, it’s AMD CEO Lisa Su. In this wide-ranging conversation with a16z Operating Partner Bob Swan—himself formerly CEO of Intel—Lisa lays out her vision for the evolution of compute within the AI ecosystem, touching not only on raw power and the continuation of Moore’s Law, but also how AMD will support “the right compute for each form factor” for a wider ranges of real-world gen AI use cases. Lisa also shares her perspective on the state of chip manufacturing, how AMD matches their R&D cycles to fast-moving industries, and how partnerships build strong ecosystems.

Read more, including a full transcript, here: https://a16z.com/how-to-build-ai-ecos...

Time stamps:

[00:01:37] Lisa's career in compute
[00:04:48] Compute in the genAI era
[00:09:39] High performance or multimodal?
[00:10:47] Making the genAI ecosystem open
[00:14:16] The chip supply chain
[00:17:53] Resiliency and the CHIPS Act
[00:20:54] How AMD balances long development cycles with short term innovation
[00:24:48] Learnings from the hyperscaler market
[00:26:54] What being fabless means for AMD
[00:31:24] Lisa's advice for startup founders

Find more content from our AI Revolution series on www.a16z.com/AIRevolution.

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Finding and backing companies that can reach escape velocity is the name of the game over here at a16z Growth—but picking those winners is far from easy. David George, head of the a16z Growth fund, sat down with the I/O podcast to discuss his mental models for growth-stage investing, what it really takes to go public, where AI is today and where it’s headed, and more.

[00:03:19] What makes Andreessen Horowitz different

[00:08:29] David's mental model for investing

[00:18:23] Focusing on inputs, not outputs

[00:26:52] What constitutes a growth company?

[00:29:14] David's three investing frameworks

[00:36:45] How to measure the ROI of R&D

[00:42:15] What it takes to go public today

[00:46:43] AI: market structure and infrastructure vs. application layers

To read a transcript of this conversation, click here.

In this conversation with a16z general partner David George, Scale AI founder and CEO Alexandr Wang discusses the three pillars of AI—models, compute, and data—and how creating abundant data is core to the evolution of gen AI. With Scale’s work across enterprise, automotive, and the public sector, Alex is also building the critical infrastructure that will allow any organization to use their proprietary data to build bespoke gen AI applications. In addition to talking about frontier data, Alex also shares his learnings from the growth of Scale, his approach to leadership, and what he thinks growth-stage founder/CEOs tend to get wrong about hiring.

Read more, including a full transcript, here: https://a16z.com/frontier-data-foundries-alex-wang-scale-ai/

Timestamps:

[00:00:58] How frontier data will change gen AI

[00:08:47] Are big tech companies over-investing in AI?

[00:14:39] Where the best AI businesses will thrive

[00:17:05] How enterprise businesses are approaching AI adoption

[00:19:50] What does the next phase of gen AI products look like?

[00:23:23] Alex's approach to scaling Scale

[00:25:36] The founder fallacy

[00:30:12] MEI and how Alex views talent acquisition