AMD’s Chief Technology Officer, Mark Papermaster, believes the shift from AI training to inference presents a significant opportunity for the company to gain market share from Nvidia. As AI inference moves from data centers to edge devices like smartphones and laptops, AMD is positioning itself to capitalize on this trend.
Papermaster expects a ‘killer app’ for AI to emerge within the next three to six years, driving the adoption of AI at the edge. “AI at scale is all about inference,” Papermaster stated. He anticipates that over time, the majority of AI inference will be done at the edge, although the exact timeline depends on the development of applications that can effectively utilize edge devices.
The Rise of Edge AI
The CTO pointed to local, immediate, low-latency content creation as a prominent use case for AI computing in edge devices. Examples include real-time video processing, automatic translation, and AI-assisted content creation in applications like PowerPoint and Adobe.
“Today, I’ve got to go back to the cloud. I’ve got to run the big, heavy compute. It’s more expensive and it takes more time,” Papermaster explained. “That’s the immediate example that’s front and center, and this is why we’ve invested heavily in AI PCs.”
Other applications driving edge AI include autonomous systems, starting with vehicles but extending to factory floors. Papermaster predicts that as ‘killer applications’ emerge, the shift to edge computing will accelerate rapidly.
Balancing Innovation and Optimization
Addressing concerns about potential breakthroughs making current devices obsolete, Papermaster noted that advancements in AI are driving both increased capability and optimization. “There’s an equal vector that runs in parallel, saying, ‘How could I be more optimized?'” he explained, citing the industry’s response to innovations like DeepSeek as an example of this dual progress.
As AI continues to evolve, AMD is focused on developing the necessary technology to support growing demand for AI computing across various devices. With its focus on inference and edge computing, AMD aims to challenge Nvidia’s dominance in the AI market.
