TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwanese American CEO of Nvidia Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) and his cousin the CEO of Advanced Micro Devices Lisa Su (蘇姿豐) are both featured on the latest cover of Time magazine.
On Thursday (Sept. 5), Time announced its list of “Top 100 Most Influential People in AI 2024,” which included Huang, Su, and TSMC CEO C.C. Wei (魏哲家). The list is divided into four major categories, including Leaders, Innovators, Thinkers, and Shapers, with Wei and Huang selected as leaders and Su included among the innovators.
In addition to Wei and Huang, the leaders list included notable figures such as Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Time noted that Wei has headed the world’s largest contract semiconductor foundry since 2018 as CEO and became chair in June. The report highlights TSMC’s growing importance due to the rise of AI, noting that it is the only company in the world capable of producing the chips required for the most advanced AI systems.
The magazine added that TSCM's market value has nearly tripled over the past six years. The article also mentioned TSMC’s “unparalleled manufacturing capabilities” and the strategic importance of its chips.
The report said Wei has been with TSMC since 1998. During his tenure, TSMC has expanded beyond Taiwan, with plans for new fabs in the US and Germany, and construction underway in Japan.
In last year's list of influential figures in AI, Time also featured Huang as a leader. This year, Time describes the Nvidia CEO as a “tech rockstar,” noting he sports a leather jacket at public events.
In June, at the Computex Taipei exhibition, a female fan even asked him to autograph her chest, a notable example of the phenomenon dubbed "Jensanity," which has elevated him to celebrity status among CEOs.
Regarding Su, who was placed at the top of the innovator list, Time said she deeply understands the key to success in tech lies in “making the right bets.” During her tenure as AMD’s CEO, she focused on the company’s strengths and making strategic deals, leading AMD through one of Silicon Valley’s most remarkable comebacks.
When she took the helm in 2014, AMD's stock had dropped to US$3 (NT$95). Su revived the company by focusing on central processing units for laptops and PC and graphics processors for gaming consoles and PCs, boosting the stock price to over US$200 earlier this year.
