Exercise 1
Vocabulary
Repeat each word, its meaning and the example sentence out loud.
accelerator
noun/əkˈsɛlərˌeɪtər/a special computer chip that makes one specific job much faster, often used for AI or graphics
Our team tested the new GPU accelerator to speed up the machine learning model.
revenue
noun/ˈrɛvəˌnu/the total money a company makes from selling its products or services
The company's revenue grew 50% this quarter compared to last year.
guidance
noun/ˈɡaɪdəns/a company's prediction or forecast about its future financial results
The CEO gave guidance that earnings would improve in the next quarter.
margin
noun/ˈmɑrdʒən/the difference between the price you sell something for and what it costs you to make
Our profit margin improved after we found a cheaper way to produce the software.
outperform
verb/ˌaʊtpərˈfɔrm/to do better than something else or someone else
Our new product outperformed the competitor's version in all the speed tests.
Exercise 2
Article
Read the article aloud on your own, or listen to it first.
AMD set to outsell Intel for the first time ever
AMD announced record profits and said something historic: it expects to earn more money than Intel in the fourth quarter for the first time ever.
AMD's third quarter brought in $13.377 billion, up from $9.25 billion a year earlier. The company's profit also nearly doubled to $2.43 billion.
The main driver of this growth was AMD's data center business, which nearly doubled year-over-year to $8.55 billion. Data center means the huge computers that run cloud services and artificial intelligence systems.
Two products pushed this success: Epyc processors (standard chips for data center computers) and Instinct AI accelerators (special chips that make AI much faster). Big companies like Microsoft, Meta, and OpenAI are already using AMD's systems.
AMD's guidance for Q4 is approximately $17 billion in revenue. Intel expects only $15-16 billion.
If AMD hits its target, it will be the first quarter where AMD earns more than Intel in history.
However, not everything is positive. AMD's client and gaming business fell 8% year-over-year.
This unit makes chips for personal computers and game consoles, and PC demand is weak right now.
AMD expects its PC business to fall more than 20% in Q4. The company also predicts that total PC shipments will drop by double digits in 2027.
But AMD remains confident in data center. The company plans for data center to make up over 80% of its total revenue in 2027, up from 64% this quarter.
This shows a historic shift in the chip industry away from personal computers toward cloud and AI.
Exercise 3
Discussion
Have a discussion based on the following questions.
- 1.In your company, are you more focused on data center products or client products like PCs? How might this shift at AMD affect your own work?
- 2.AMD expects data center to be 80% of its business in 2027. Do you think this is a good strategy, or should the company keep making PC chips too?
- 3.What challenges might AMD face now that it needs to produce so many accelerators for AI workloads?
- 4.If AMD truly outsells Intel in Q4, what could this mean for smaller chip companies trying to compete in the market?
- 5.Have you personally used or worked with AMD chips? How do they compare to Intel in your experience?
Exercise 4
Further discussion
Have a discussion based on the following questions.
- 1.For decades, Intel was the clear leader in the chip industry. What changed to allow AMD to catch up and possibly overtake Intel?
- 2.Data centers and AI are now driving the entire chip industry. What other technology trends could become this important in the future?
- 3.AMD is reducing its focus on personal computers. Is the PC market dying, or is it just growing more slowly than data center?
- 4.How does this earnings report show the shift from consumer technology to enterprise and AI technology in the tech industry?
Discuss this story out loud with our AI speaking coach.
It asks one question at a time, at your level, and gives you feedback at the end.
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This lesson is our own retelling, for English learners, of a story from Hacker News.
