Why did Intel get left behind in the AI Chip Boom?
The NewTimes.com reported that “In 2005, there was no inkling of the artificial intelligence boom that would come years later. But directors at Intel, whose chips served as electronic brains in most computers, faced a decision that might have altered how that transformative technology evolved….Some Intel executives believed that the underlying design of graphics chips could eventually take on important new jobs in data centers, an approach that would eventually dominate A.I. systems.” The October 24, 2024 report entitled “How Intel Got Left Behind in the A.I. Chip Boom” (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/technology/intel-ai-chips-mistakes.html) included these comments:
Today Nvidia is the unrivaled A.I. chip king and one of the most valuable corporations in the world, while Intel, once the semiconductor superpower, is reeling and getting no lift from the A.I. gold rush. Nvidia’s stock market value, for years a fraction of Intel’s, is now more than $3 trillion, roughly 30 times that of the struggling Silicon Valley icon, which has fallen below $100 billion.
As the company’s valuation has sunk, some big tech companies and investment bankers have been considering what was once unthinkable: that Intel could be a potential acquisition target.
Such scenarios add to the pressures facing Patrick Gelsinger, appointed in 2021 as Intel’s chief executive. He has focused on restoring the company’s onetime lead in chip manufacturing technology, but longtime company watchers say Intel badly needs popular products — such as A.I. chips — to bolster revenue that declined by more than 30 percent from 2021 through 2023.
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