CEOs of OpenAI and Intel cite artificial intelligence’s voracious appetite for processing power

Two tech CEOs scrambling to produce more of the sophisticated chips needed for artificial intelligence met for a brainstorming session Wednesday while the booming market’s early leader reported another quarter of eye-popping growth.

The on-stage conversation between Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman unfolded in a San Jose, California, convention centre a few hours after Nvidia disclosed its revenue for the November-January period nearly quadrupled from the previous year.

Intel, a Silicon Valley pioneer that has been struggling in recent years, laid out its plans for catching up to Nvidia during a daylong conference. Gelsinger kicked things off with an opening speech outlining how he envisions the feverish demand for AI-equipped chips revitalising his company in a surge he dubbed the ‘Siliconomy.’

‘It’s just magic the way these tiny chips are enabling the modern economic cycle we are in today,’ Gelsinger said.

OpenAI, a San Francisco startup backed by Microsoft, has become one of technology’s brightest stars since unleashing its most popular AI innovation, ChatGPT, in late 2022. Altman is now eager to push the envelope even further while competing against Google and other companies such as Anthropic and Inflection AI. But the next leaps he wants to make will take far more processing power than what’s currently available.