Intel CEO Says U.S. Is Winning AI Race Over China, and a Tech Boom Is Coming

The CEO of Intel says artificial intelligence will spark a decade of economic growth and a massive wave of technology investment.

During a session at the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday,
Intel
(ticker: INTC) CEO Pat Gelsinger offered an optimistic vision of an AI-driven future.

“I believe [AI] will be the driver of economic growth, dislocation and investment for at least a decade, “ he said. “There is going to be investment cycles, new companies born, companies that embrace AI and ride its growth.”

Intel shares fell 2.2% to $35.76 in early trading Tuesday.

Gelsinger says the trend will have the same transformational impact as the internet and lead to extraordinary productivity gains for society. He said improvements in algorithm technology, data analysis, and computing power has led to dramatic progress in recent years. He expects more innovation—including better capabilities to use and generate animation, video, and speech.

“Every two years you’re going to see a major algorithmic breakthrough in AI where there is going to be new classes of problems that are going to be solved,” he said. “We are going to see an explosion in compute capacity. [There’s] going to be extraordinary compute centers that get built for leading edge AI.” 

The executive expects 20% of the world’s power to be used for information technology over the next decade, versus just 4% today.

Gelsinger is also confident the U.S. will retain market leadership in AI technology and innovation. He cited how skeptics thought China would win because of its government policies and access to large amounts of data.

“Did we fail in the AI race? No. Every great AI innovation has emerged from the U.S. and democratic society,” he said. “An open, innovative, research-oriented society won.”

Write to Tae Kim at [email protected]

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