"Global tech big shots" Jensen Huang, Nvidia chief executive officer (CEO), and Lisa Su, AMD CEO, fired up Las Vegas on the 5th (local time), the day before the opening of CES 2026. Both companies unveiled new high-performance semiconductors suited for artificial intelligence (AI) training and inference, saying in unison that "a new market is opening this year."
Su, the CEO, took the stage as the opening keynote speaker for CES 2026, the world's largest IT and home appliance show. The Palazzo Ballroom at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, where the speech was held, is a large venue with about 7,500 seats. Even so, it was filled to capacity 30 minutes before the keynote, and many attendees waiting to enter had to turn away. A visitor from France said, "I came a long way because I wanted to see Su's presentation in person, so it's a shame," adding, "I plan to find a spot nearby and watch the online stream."
Huang, the CEO, delivered a special address through Nvidia's own event, "CES 2026 Live." The event was held at the BleauLive Theater at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, which has about 3,600 seats. Entry was restricted starting 15 minutes before the special address as all seats were filled. Nvidia set up two separate spaces inside the hotel with large screens so visitors who could not get in could watch the live broadcast. About 3,000 people crowded into these areas as well. An American attendee at the BleauLive Theater said, "I want to see the future with CEO Huang, who built the most expensive corporations in the world."
◇ "Computing will enter the 'yotta era'"
Huang and Su each unveiled next-generation AI chips during their speeches, saying, "We must respond to the explosive rise in AI demand." AMD unveiled an AI rack product called "Helios," while Nvidia introduced a rack-level computing platform called "Vera Rubin." Both products combine multiple central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) into a single system to boost performance. Helios is equipped with 72 Instinct MI455 GPUs and 18 Venice CPUs. Vera Rubin consists of 36 Vera CPUs and 72 Rubin GPUs.
Huang and Su said the newly unveiled products deliver several times higher performance than before while improving expense by several times. Their strategy is to meet the rising demand for model training and inference with these high-performance AI chips.
Su said, "As AI adoption accelerates, we are entering the 'yotta-scale computing era' on the back of unprecedented growth in both training and inference." She explained that global computing capacity rose from 1 zettaFLOPS in 2023 to 100 zettaFLOPS last year, and within five years it will increase another 100 times, requiring 10 yottaFLOPS.
FLOPS refers to the number of times a computer calculates a floating-point number per second. Zetta means 10 to the 21st power. 1 zettaFLOPS means 10²¹ complex calculations are performed per second. Yotta means 10 to the 24th power.
Su said the number of AI users surpassed 1 billion after the launch of ChatGPT and is expected to grow to 5 billion, so new chips suited to the increased compute load are needed. Unveiling Helios, Su said it is "a product that prepares for the yotta era," calling it "not a simple server rack, but a 'monster.'"
Huang also said that without improving computing performance, it will be impossible to keep up with rising AI demand. "We designed Vera Rubin to solve the fundamental problem of skyrocketing compute needs for AI," he said. "With compute demand surging in both AI training and inference, we are bringing Vera Rubin to market at the right time."
◇ "Robots can infer the next action"
"Physical AI" was a common keyword emphasized several times in both Huang's and Su's speeches. At CES 2025 early last year, Huang said AI, which had stayed in the digital world, is evolving to perceive the physical space and make its own judgments as it is embedded in robots and devices, and he put forward "physical AI" as a theme. A year later, various commercialization technologies are emerging in what had been a conceptually discussed field, and they are permeating everyday life and industrial sites.
Huang brought two robots, symbols of physical AI, onto the stage to join his presentation. He also created a dramatic scene by placing on stage a host of robots built by companies such as LG Electronics, Boston Dynamics, Caterpillar, Franka Robotics, Humanoid and Neura Robotics that use the company's robotics model "GROOT."
Huang said, "The ChatGPT moment is coming to the field of Robotics," adding, "Beyond merely moving according to sensor inputs, it is also possible for robots to infer their next action." He also predicted, "Manufacturing plants will now essentially become giant robots." The idea is that AI and robotics technology can transform industrial worksites across the board.
Su said, "AI is the most important technology in the past 50 years," and "physical AI demands systems that can understand the surrounding environment, make decisions in real time and act precisely, making it one of the most challenging tasks in technology."
Both Huang and Su said the role of "open platforms" is important in AI's development. Su said, "This year's CES shows what becomes possible when the industry joins forces to realize 'AI everywhere, AI for everyone.'" Huang said, "AI is not a simple app, but your tool," adding, "We will help anyone develop AI tailored to them."