Advanced Micro Devices, semiconductor company producing CPUs, GPUs, and AI accelerators. Major competitor to Intel and Nvidia.
AMD reported an $800 million charge tied to halted shipments of AI chips to China. The company's MI308 accelerator, designed with export compliance in mind, was blocked by U.S. export restrictions. AMD had to write down inventory and cut China from its revenue forecast. Gross margin sank to 43% from 54%.
In 2025, AMD announced it exceeded its ambitious 30x25 goal to increase energy efficiency of AI-training and HPC nodes by 30x from 2020 to 2025. The actual achievement was a 38.5x improvement in node-level energy efficiency for AI training and high-performance computing - cutting energy use by 97% for the same performance using AMD Instinct MI350 Series GPUs and 5th Gen AMD EPYC CPUs. AMD set a new 2030 goal to deliver a 20x increase in rack-scale energy efficiency from a 2024 base year, demonstrating continued commitment to reducing computing's environmental footprint.
In 2025, AMD published its Climate Transition Plan (CTP) with governance, strategies and action plans to support decarbonization efforts across products, operations and supply chain. The company committed to achieving full net-zero emissions throughout its entire value chain by 2050, with interim targets set for 2030: 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions, and 25% reduction in Scope 3 emissions from 2020 baseline. AMD's chiplet architecture saved approximately 132,000 metric tons of CO2e in 2023 - 2.8x AMD's annual operational footprint.
In November 2024, AMD was ranked #1 in Newsweek's America's Greenest Companies 2024, recognizing the company's environmental impact and commitment. The ranking evaluated 300 companies with minimum $5B market cap across 25+ parameters including GHG emissions, water usage, waste generation, and sustainability disclosures. AMD achieved approximately 28% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions from 2020 baseline and sourced 40% of energy from renewable sources (up from 18% in 2020), representing 83+ gigawatt-hours of clean power annually.
AMD laid off approximately 1,000 employees (4% of 26,000-person workforce) in November 2024. An AMD spokesperson stated the company was 'taking targeted steps' to align resources with 'largest growth opportunities.' This occurred amid AMD's pivot to AI chip competition with NVIDIA.
AMD removed DEI metrics from executive annual cash bonuses in 2024, replacing them with 'workforce strategic objectives.' This represented a retreat from 2023 when DEI performance directly affected executive pay. The change occurred despite AMD maintaining public DEI programs including the 'Advancing Women in Tech' initiative.
In 2023, AMD launched Advancing Women in Tech, a comprehensive learning experience designed to empower, retain and support AMD women in technical careers. The program was completed by over 230 women in its inaugural year and expanded with additional cohorts in 2024. This initiative is part of AMD's broader DEI commitment, with a goal for 70% of employees to participate in employee resource groups and inclusion initiatives by 2025. In 2024, 61% of AMD employees contributed to activities under this goal.