Intel wants to build ‘everybody’s AI chips,’ CEO says, as company plays catch-up with rivals

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger aims to reclaim its position as the world’s leading chipmaker after losing ground to rivals TSMC and Samsung in recent years.

“We want to build everyone’s chips, including their AI chips. We want them to be built using US factories,” Gelsinger told CNBC on the sidelines of the Computex tech conference in Taipei on Tuesday.

Intel seeks to bolster its struggling foundry business, which posted a $7 billion operating loss in 2023 compared to the previous year. According to a Counterpoint Research report released on May 22, it is not currently among the top six foundries in terms of revenues.

The company was the world’s largest chipmaker until 2017, when Samsung Electronics overtook it in revenue. According to reports, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company will overtake Samsung as the world’s largest foundry by revenue in 2023.

“The first piece is to get back to leadership, because a lot of the losses are associated with having uncompetitive process technology,” Gelsinger stated.

The Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act funding of up to $8.5 billion, with an additional $11 billion on the way, is expected to help Intel advance its semiconductor manufacturing and research and development.

“Capital is critical. And we stated that if we are to build these factories in the United States, we must have economic competitiveness, which the Chips Act has provided. “It has created a level playing field if I were to build a factory in Asia rather than the United States,” Gelsinger said.

Intel, which also designs chips, aims to catch up with Nvidia and AMD after missing out on the AI boom, which saw tech giants such as Meta, Microsoft, and Google purchase Nvidia chips in droves.

Gelsinger unveiled the new Xeon 6 processor for data centers on Tuesday at the Computex technology conference in Taipei, promising improved performance and power efficiency over its predecessor.

“Xeon 6 was a big step forward in our competitiveness to not only hold on to our market, but regain some of those market share opportunities that we’ve lost,” Gelsinger said.

“And as we get through that and get back to [chip manufacturing] process leadership, we will also have much better profitability, as well,” he stated.

China remains a major market.
China remains an important market for most US chipmakers, including Intel, despite Washington’s efforts to limit chip sales to the country and Beijing’s efforts to reduce foreign reliance in the semiconductor sector.

“China is a big market for Intel today, and one that we’re investing in to be a big market for Intel tomorrow,” Gelsinger stated.

“And as I would like to say, navigating carefully, build products, make sure that we’re obeying the laws of both countries, but also then build products that are compelling.”

U.S. chip giants Intel, Broadcom, Qualcomm, and Marvell Technology all generate more revenue from China than from the United States, according to S&P Global data compiled in March.r.