AMD CEO Lisa Su says AI will need 10 'yottaflops' of compute — here's what that actually means (www.businessinsider.com)

At CES 2026, AMD CEO Lisa Su emphasized the staggering computational demands of future AI developments, predicting that the world will require over "10 yottaflops" of compute power in the next five years. A yottaflop, equivalent to one septillion calculations per second, illustrates the exponential increase in computing needs—essentially 10,000 times the compute available in 2022. This projection highlights the rapid growth of AI, with the global AI compute capacity having already grown from a zettaflop in 2022 to over 100 zettaflops by 2025. Su's forecast, which signifies a need for a shift in computing capabilities on an unprecedented scale, brings to light potential challenges. The required compute power would allow for advanced simulations, such as modeling entire planets at the atomic level, yet it also poses significant implications for infrastructure. The growing demand could strain the current US power grid, pointing to the need for robust energy solutions to support this AI revolution. Additionally, during her keynote, Su showcased AMD's advancements in AI hardware with the introduction of the MI455 GPU, further positioning the company as a key player in the data-center landscape for AI applications.