AMD CEO Lisa Su says AI will need 10 'yottaflops' of compute — here's what that actually means

In a groundbreaking keynote at CES 2026, AMD CEO Lisa Su highlighted the staggering amount of computing power required to support the rapid growth of artificial intelligence. She introduced the concept of 'yottaflops,' a term that left many in the audience puzzled. 'How many of you know what a yottaflop is?' Su asked, prompting a quick explanation after observing the lack of raised hands. A yottaflop is defined as a computer's ability to perform one septillion calculations per second, which translates to a one followed by 24 zeros. Su emphasized that the world will need more than 10 yottaflops of computing power in the next five years to keep pace with AI advancements. To put this into perspective, she noted that this figure represents a staggering 10,000 times the computing capabilities available in 2022. To illustrate the scale, Su pointed out that the global AI compute power reached approximately one zettaflop in 2022, which is a one followed by 21 zeros. By 2025, that number is projected to exceed 100 zettaflops, underscoring an unprecedented surge in computing capabilities. 'There's just never, ever been anything like this in the history of computing,' she declared during her address. Su's vision of 10 yottaflops represents a computing speed that is around 5.6 million times faster than the current most powerful supercomputer, the US Department of Energy's El Capitan. However, this rapid expansion of AI compute power is already straining the US power grid, making the development of energy infrastructure a critical challenge for the future. In addition to her insights on AI computing needs, Su also took the opportunity to introduce AMD's latest generation of AI chips, including the MI455 GPU, as the company aims to enhance its offerings for data-center hardware, catering to clients such as OpenAI.