AMD CEO Lisa Su Speaks English

rgMekanic

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It is important for an interviewer to know who their interviewee is before starting an interview. However in the case of the spontaneous interview, the interviewer may not know the interviewee, and as a result end up looking like an ass during the interview.

This is what happened at the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday. Former F1 driver and Sky Sports presenter Martin Brundle was walking the starting grid before the race looking for interviews according to a report from TheRegister. After running short of teams and drivers, he found someone who looked interesting and asked "Excuse me ma'am, do you speak English?" Unwittingly Brundle was speaking to AMD CEO Lisa Su who was on the starting grid as AMD is sponsoring the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team this year. Embarrassing to say the least.

"Excuse me ma'am, do you speak English?" Brundle asked. However, he was unwittingly talking to Lisa Su, president and CEO of AMD, who speaks excellent English, thanks in part to gaining a masters and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from MIT and 46 years living in the US.
 
What was she doing in China, looking for Chinese company to buyout AMD?

Hopefully.

US gov would never let that happen.

For this guy though... ya way to look like a putz. Oh look at all those fancy badges how did you get here ? lmao Moron I worked for a company at one point that sponsored a car... I somehow can't imagine this moron would have went and marveled at all their access passes. haha
 
To be honest, I probably wouldn't be able to pick her out from a crowd. It's not because of her race, but rather she just looks normal and/or average. She doesn't stick out like most famous people do.
 
US gov would never let that happen.

For this guy though... ya way to look like a putz. Oh look at all those fancy badges how did you get here ? lmao Moron I worked for a company at one point that sponsored a car... I somehow can't imagine this moron would have went and marveled at all their access passes. haha
Yeah her should have used the American way. Walked up to her, talked extremely loudly and assumed she spoke English. Every American knows that if you talk loudly enough, everyone will understand you.
 
Well considering it was in China he'd probably been starting most of his interviews or even conversations that way. It's also kind of lose/lose for him: if he starts up some big question and she reacts with "no English" then he looks stupid and wastes time, if he politely asks if she speaks English then apparently that makes him an ass. I've only ever seen her on articles linked from this site and probably wouldn't recognize her otherwise.

It was strange that he didn't actually continue the conversation with her but he might have had the producer in his ear saying to wrap it up so who knows.
 
To me the uncomfortable thing about his interview isn't the innocent do you speak English question. Its the follow up who are you and what are you doing here ? Oh look at all those passes.... hmmm I don't know dude do you think perhaps that is perhaps a clue that she isn't a no one that wondered on the track following a rich boy friend or something? That is the way it sounded to me ... but I don't know perhaps that is this guys thing. Nice snag/cock up ? for your first "Martin's random person" of the year. hehe I get that she isn't the most famous face out on that track... but still perhaps the multiple gold status passes around her neck are a clue she isn't a no one.
 
Wouldn't that be a natural question for an English speaking interviewer to ask in China? Kind of like say a French interviewer in America looking for people who speak French at Mardi Gras. It just looks pretty normal for that kind of "got to do something to fill in the time" interview.
 
Wouldn't that be a natural question for an English speaking interviewer to ask in China? Kind of like say a French interviewer in America looking for people who speak French at Mardi Gras. It just looks pretty normal for that kind of "got to do something to fill in the time" interview.

Yeah, I mean if this had happened in the US it'd be a different story.
 
Lol...the guy really made himself sound like a superficial jackass.

She handled it quite gracefully though, she could've easily answered with "I'm the mothereffin AMD CEO bitch" </Sam L. Jackson voice> ... but she modestly only mentioned she is with AMD

From my outside view she seems a real class act (aside from her engineering credentials)
 
Wouldn't that be a natural question for an English speaking interviewer to ask in China? Kind of like say a French interviewer in America looking for people who speak French at Mardi Gras. It just looks pretty normal for that kind of "got to do something to fill in the time" interview.

"Excuse me ma'am do you have a moment for an interview for British television?" Same question nicer delivery. It seems like this guy covers a lot of international races... he should likey add that one to his repertoire. lol
 
.... but she looks FOB seriously.
She has that fob face, like Asus chairman Jonney Shih.

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I'm chinese, and have been to china many times. Most folks there don't speak english (especially the older ones) and not knowing who she was, I would probably ask the same thing if I was an interviewer. The alternative is to just start chatting and see if they give you a blank expression or not.
 
I'm chinese, and have been to china many times. Most folks there don't speak english (especially the older ones) and not knowing who she was, I would probably ask the same thing if I was an interviewer. The alternative is to just start chatting and see if they give you a blank expression or not.

Or assume someone standing in a suit on an F1 starting grid with a neckfull of passes is important
 
"Excuse me ma'am do you have a moment for an interview for British television?" Same question nicer delivery. It seems like this guy covers a lot of international races... he should likey add that one to his repertoire. lol
By which time they've run out of time. Just don't see the problem here it's a quick man on the street interview, this is quite common...I think the cameras are a giveaway that they want to do an interview.
 
To be honest, I probably wouldn't be able to pick her out from a crowd. It's not because of her race, but rather she just looks normal and/or average. She doesn't stick out like most famous people do.

that's definitely true.. was watching this part and quite frankly had no idea it was Lisa Su either.. most business people at F1 races try way to hard to stand out during the grid walk at F1 races or have tons of people around them and she didn't have any of that and just looked like a normal person out there.

Brundle is an idiot though and is really good at making a fool of himself especially during the USGP since he doesn't know most of the people out on the grid walk.
 
On the flip side, I'm sure most posting in here wouldn't recognize Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of Ferrari. Everyone's grandma knows of Ferrari.

I'd wager most people, in general, wouldn't have a clue what you're talking about if you said AMD.
 
Why the fuck would an F1 personality have the first clue who Lisa Su is? What actually happened here is that a native English speaker went to a country where English isn't the native language, so he ASKED THE QUESTION instead of making an assumption. That's called GOOD FUCKING MANNERS. Fucking PC twits.
 
Why the fuck would an F1 personality have the first clue who Lisa Su is? What actually happened here is that a native English speaker went to a country where English isn't the native language, so he ASKED THE QUESTION instead of making an assumption. That's called GOOD FUCKING MANNERS. Fucking PC twits.
af00a859abd045954b047619e17cc4ca5ebb03599d2606ab3614f8c130870c92.jpg
 
On the flip side, I'm sure most posting in here wouldn't recognize Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of Ferrari. Everyone's grandma knows of Ferrari.

I'd wager most people, in general, wouldn't have a clue what you're talking about if you said AMD.

i only recognize him because he's the only one from Ferrari that doesn't look pissed off 24/7.
 
Yes... Because being "important" automatically means you can speak English. Idiot.

The issue isn't the do you speak English as much as the ... who are you and what are you doing here, Ohhh look at all your passes well there ya go if you want gold shiny passes just be a sponsor. The whole thing sounded condescending like he found someones assistant and he just made her day by sticking a camera in her face. I get that he didn't recognize who she was, but it was clear he assumed she wasn't anyone all that important. I'm sure at the end of that in his ear piece he got a "dude you just talked to the most powerful women in tech like she was an intern" lol
 
that is why only racing related personalities should be on the ground during F1.

it is not reasonable for every interviewer to recognize unrelated sponsor faces. Lisa Su on the celebrity scale is D-class too.

and this is an English broadcaster.

overheated AMD fanboys anger in the article
 
US gov would never let that happen.

For this guy though... ya way to look like a putz. Oh look at all those fancy badges how did you get here ? lmao Moron I worked for a company at one point that sponsored a car... I somehow can't imagine this moron would have went and marveled at all their access passes. haha

if you like motorsports, all these people ARE random. AMD is there for the ad space, not for racing. Of course no one would recognize her. (there are a hundreds of people there on the track btw)

and on a Ferrari? That AMD winning the bid, not Ferrari begging for sponsorship. It's not Sauber we're talking about.
 
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To me the uncomfortable thing about his interview isn't the innocent do you speak English question. Its the follow up who are you and what are you doing here ? Oh look at all those passes.... hmmm I don't know dude do you think perhaps that is perhaps a clue that she isn't a no one that wondered on the track following a rich boy friend or something? That is the way it sounded to me ... but I don't know perhaps that is this guys thing. Nice snag/cock up ? for your first "Martin's random person" of the year. hehe I get that she isn't the most famous face out on that track... but still perhaps the multiple gold status passes around her neck are a clue she isn't a no one.

the way F1 teams are funded these days, there are ALOT of girlfriends, brothers, sisters and cousins on the track .

come to think of it , it has been same thing since F1 was conceived...only diff these days is that the alot of the funders and owners has no racing blood in them. Just money. (F1 being a massively for-profit effort for the past few decades)
 
The issue isn't the do you speak English as much as the ... who are you and what are you doing here, Ohhh look at all your passes well there ya go if you want gold shiny passes just be a sponsor. The whole thing sounded condescending like he found someones assistant and he just made her day by sticking a camera in her face. I get that he didn't recognize who she was, but it was clear he assumed she wasn't anyone all that important. I'm sure at the end of that in his ear piece he got a "dude you just talked to the most powerful women in tech like she was an intern" lol

but an absolute nobody in racing. Not even a moneybag on which the team is reliant on.
 
You've clearly got some anger issues. Other people in this thread have made the same point you are without coming off as someone suffering from roid rage. Chil..

No I don't, and no, I will not. Stupidity such as that displayed in this article is allowed to flourish when sensible people don't oppose it as vigorously as possible.
 
No I don't, and no, I will not. Stupidity such as that displayed in this article is allowed to flourish when sensible people don't oppose it as vigorously as possible.

i agree with you.

people who do not care about F1 should not make ignorant comments on F1 like this. AMD is really a nobody in F1. ( and we are talking about the times of F1 with Caterham and Minardi. If AMD wants to be a real player, go buy a team )
 
"Excuse me ma'am do you have a moment for an interview for British television?" Same question nicer delivery. It seems like this guy covers a lot of international races... he should likey add that one to his repertoire. lol

I like it, much nicer.
 
i agree with you.

people who do not care about F1 should not make ignorant comments on F1 like this. AMD is really a nobody in F1. ( and we are talking about the times of F1 with Caterham and Minardi. If AMD wants to a a player, go buy a team )

that's funny given AMD has been a part of F1 since 2006 either as a major sponsor with ferrari or a minor sponsor with other teams. they've also provided a lot of the hardware the teams use for their cars. so while they may be a nobody in the sport to the casual fans they're a major part of the sport as far as the teams go.
 
that's funny given AMD has been a part of F1 since 2006 either as a major sponsor with ferrari or a minor sponsor with other teams. they've also provided a lot of the hardware the teams use for their cars. so while they may be a nobody in the sport to the casual fans they're a major part of the sport as far as the teams go.

AMD is nobody in F1 thats a laugh, the amount of money in that sport is insane, Rich oil mining Arabs everywhere.
 
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