Bloomberg Tech at CES – January 6, 2026

Episode Overview

Live from the floor of CES in Las Vegas, Bloomberg Tech host Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow deliver exclusive conversations with the CEOs of AMD, Lucid, and Razer. The episode dives deep into the newest chip innovations powering the AI revolution, the fast-evolving EV and Robotaxi market, and the ways AI is reshaping gaming hardware and experiences. Tapping voices from the industry’s frontier, this edition reveals the technology, partnerships, and global ambitions shaping 2026 and beyond.

Key Segments and Insights

1. AMD at the Bleeding Edge of AI Compute

Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, interviewed by Ed Ludlow

[02:28–25:40]

CES Announcements & Chip Roadmap

• Helios Rack-Scale System & MI455X:

  • AMD’s first rack-scale system, unveiled with the world’s first 2 nanometer chip of its type.
  • “Helios is a massive system… MI455 is just an incredibly powerful chip… massive leap forward in technology capability.”
    — Lisa Su [02:55]
  • 320 billion transistors, built on 2 and 3 nanometer process technology.
  • Targeting ever-increasing demand for AI compute, projected to grow from 1B to 5B+ users in 5 years.

• Deployment & Partners:

  • Planned rollout in the second half of 2026, ramping up from there.
  • Key partners: OpenAI (Greg Brockman joined AMD on stage), Oracle, among others.
    “You’ll see it in 2H26 and it will ramp from there…”
    — Lisa Su [04:11]

• MI440X for Enterprise AI:

  • Aimed at enterprises needing on-prem/private cloud AI without building new data centers.
  • “You don’t want to have to build a brand new data center for every new generation of chip.”
    — Lisa Su [06:04]

Competitive Dynamics with Nvidia

• Positioning against Nvidia focuses on cost of ownership, ecosystem openness, and strong partnerships.
• “Outstanding performance at… very advantaged, total cost of ownership. And… an open ecosystem and deep partnerships…”
  — Lisa Su [07:13]

Global Compute Demand Crisis

• “We have about a billion active users and we’re ramping to 5 billion over the next five years… have to increase compute by another 100 times... introduced a term last night, the ‘yadaflop’—10 to the 24th flops…”
  — Lisa Su [08:36]
• The world’s infrastructure is “compute constrained.” To meet global demand, the ecosystem must “increase compute by another 100 times... over four or five years.” [08:36]

Barriers & Bottlenecks

• Limiting factors: memory chips, silicon production, energy/power, manufacturing scale.
• “It’s not any one thing. I think all of these things have to go in tandem. That’s why partnership is just so important in this business.”
  — Lisa Su [11:28]

System Integration & Open Ecosystem

• AMD’s focus: “very, very easy for our customers to deploy,” prioritizing turnkey solutions and industry standards.
• “We are very focused on an open ecosystem. Yes, we design CPUs and GPUs... but we also work with a broad ecosystem of partners...”
  — Lisa Su [12:35]

Looking Ahead: The MI500 and Beyond

• MI455 is 10× better than the previous MI355 (launched 6 months ago); MI500 will be another 10× leap in 2027 (“a thousand times better” than the MI300).
• “It‘s just incredible engineering at every level… hardware, software, system co-design… pushing the bleeding edge…”
  — Lisa Su [13:36]

China Market & US Government Licenses

• China remains “an important market,” but exports face regulatory hurdles.
• “We did get some licenses from the US government… for MI308… applying for new licenses for MI325… haven’t gotten those licenses yet.”
  — Lisa Su [14:15]
• Demand in China for AI compute is high; AMD working with both the US and Chinese governments. [15:25]
• Lisa expresses optimism that license approvals for newer chips will materialize. [16:03]

Metrics & Market Share

• “Tens of billions of dollars in AI revenue as we get into 2027” is a key target. [16:34]

PC Market and Supply Chain

• AMD grew PC market share in 2025, driven by early AI PC bets and Windows 11 refresh.
• Underrepresented in enterprise laptops—seen as a growth opportunity for 2026. [17:37]
• Memory availability (DRAM, broader memory) is currently a constraining factor. [18:57]

AI’s Economic Impact

• AI brings measurable ROI in productivity for companies—including AMD itself.
• Anticipates AI’s impact will be felt at a GDP level globally in the coming years.
  — “Every CEO I talk to is talking about AI. It is front and center…”
  — Lisa Su [19:39]

Physical AI: Robotics and Humanoid Partners

• AMD is providing components for Generative Bionics’ unveiled humanoid robot, expanding from traditional embedded and FPGA roles into “humanoid capability and intelligence.” [21:16]

Industry, Regulation, and the Year Ahead

• Public-private partnerships accelerating AI infrastructure (Genesis mission, export controls, US manufacturing).
• Lisa Su sees 2026 as a watershed moment for AI:
  — “I started our keynote last night with the sense that, you know, you ain't seen nothing yet... AI is not just hype… it's things that people are using every day, real time, and feeling like, hey, my life is better because I have this technology.”
  — Lisa Su [24:46]

2. Lucid, Nuro, Uber: The Future of Robotaxis and Luxury EVs

Mark Winterhoff, Interim CEO of Lucid, interviewed by Caroline Hyde

[32:03–39:26]

Robotaxi Breakthroughs & Partnerships

• Lucid unveils a production-intent Robotaxi integrating their luxury EV tech and Nuro’s autonomous driver, set for paid service in under 18 months with Uber. [32:03]
• “The product… much more integrated, less… on the edges… a very, very good experience for the customer.”
  — Mark Winterhoff [32:48]

Working with Nvidia & Roadmap to Full Autonomy

• Partnership with Nvidia announced: using Nvidia Drive for the luxury Gravity SUV (Level 2 automation in 2026, Level 3 “mind off” planned for 2028, Level 4 for 2029). [33:02]
• Expect multiple levels of autonomy to co-exist; private vehicle ownership remains relevant, especially for families and those wanting to drive themselves. [34:19]

Stock Performance and Supply Chain Recovery

• 2025 was a difficult year due to industry-wide supply chain turmoil; Q4 2025 saw record deliveries and production—up 100% year-over-year. [36:01]
• Supply chain localization: battery sourcing moving to the US mid-2026 to reduce tariff risk. [37:11]

Global Market Positioning

• No plans to compete at the low end of the EV market (e.g. with BYD, Xiaomi, or as much with Tesla in China).
• Focused on luxury and premium segments, targeting $50k+ vehicles in US/Europe, not mass-market Chinese price bands. [38:13]
• “We have no plans to go down to… $20,000. That’s where the bulk of sales are in China right now.”
  — Mark Winterhoff [38:13]

3. Razer’s “AI Gaming Ecosystem” and Hardware Innovation

Min Yang Tan, CEO of Razer, interviewed by Caroline Hyde

[40:17–46:01]

Ecosystem Expansion: Software, Payments, Developers

• Razer’s gamer-focused ecosystem now includes 150 million users, 70,000 developers, and gaming-specific payment networks.

Project Motoko: AI-Enabled Headphones

• New AI headphones (“Project Motoko”), announced at CES, act as AI wearables with integrated dual 4K cameras and far-field mics.
• “Headphones are already a universal form factor... We’ve added AI smarts to it… provides vision to the assistant… works with all the models out there: Grok, ChatGPT…”
  — Min Yang Tan [41:39–42:27]

AI Tools for Developers and Gamers

• Developing AI-driven tools for game developers (e.g., QA Companion to speed up quality assurance) and for gamers to enhance immersion.
• “For us, AI is about augmenting the experience rather than replacing it.”
  — Min Yang Tan [44:22]

Investment & Vision

• $600M commitment to R&D, AI talent, and compute hardware.
• Predicts that in the future, every significant game will incorporate AI tools.
• “A vast amount of innovation comes from gaming and… we’ll see the gamers adopt it first and then the rest of the world.”
  — Min Yang Tan [42:58]

Supply Chain Resilience

• With global operations, Razer navigated 2025’s trade turbulence through a diversified, dual-headquartered (US/Singapore) supply chain.
• “We are truly a global company… been able to work through our supply chain…”
  — Min Yang Tan [45:36]

4. CES Trends & the Embrace of AI in Consumer Devices

Caroline Hyde & Dana Wollman, Bloomberg Consumer Tech Editor

[46:47–51:27]

• Surge in robotics at CES (with entire exhibition areas dedicated).
• Expanding wearables field: many novel form factors beyond smart glasses, including AI rings and headphones.
• Emphasis on “cuteness” and user-friendly design in AI robots (e.g., LG’s laundry robot, robotic AI dog) to foster public comfort with AI.

“It does seem like the companies are very intentionally trying to make people comfortable with AI. In this case, using… cuteness.”
— Dana Wollman [51:27]

• Persistent supply chain and memory pricing issues noted throughout the laptop and device market.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Lisa Su (AMD):

  • “We have to increase compute by another 100 times as you go over the next four or five years… a yadaflop is actually 10 to the 24th in terms of flop.” [08:36]
  • “We are all looking at, how do we build faster? Power is one of those areas… So it’s not any one thing.” [10:48]
  • “You ain’t seen nothing yet… It’s amazing how much progress is made, you know, every week and every month.” [24:46]

• Mark Winterhoff (Lucid):

  • “We will always have both [Robotaxis and personal cars]… particularly, our cars are known for how great they drive.” [34:54]
  • “We’re making those decisions as we go in order to bring more things stateside, in order to save them.” [37:59]

• Min Yang Tan (Razer):

  • “AI is about augmenting the experience rather than replacing it.” [44:22]
  • “If you look at how gaming as a whole pretty much leads a lot of innovation out there… artificial intelligence started with gaming.” [42:58]

Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• [02:28]–[25:40]: AMD CEO Lisa Su – AI compute leap, chip roadmap, China, open ecosystem.
• [32:03]–[39:26]: Lucid interim CEO Mark Winterhoff – Robotaxi partnerships, Nvidia, supply chain, luxury EV market.
• [40:17]–[46:01]: Razer CEO Min Yang Tan – AI gaming ecosystem, Project Motoko headphones, future of AI in games.
• [46:47]–[51:27]: Caroline Hyde & Dana Wollman – CES robotics trends, wearables, consumer attitude toward AI.

Summary Takeaways

• 2026 is a pivotal year for the jump to mass-scale AI, with AMD and Nvidia racing to meet explosive compute needs—100× current power forecasted in five years.
• AMD’s new chips (MI455, MI500) and partnerships with industry leaders (OpenAI, Oracle) aim to challenge Nvidia while pushing an open ecosystem vision.
• Lucid, Nuro, and Uber’s robotaxi debut leverages luxury EV tech and deep partnerships (including Nvidia) for autonomous mobility, with a nuanced view of lasting personal car ownership.
• Razer’s AI wearables demonstrate how gaming hardware is driving consumer AI adoption outside the core gaming community.
• CES 2026 reflects a broader pivot: AI moving from hype to applied solutions—wearables, robots, and business productivity—while public and regulatory adaptation continues.