Pat Gelsinger joins a16z's Raghu Raghuram and Guido Appenzeller to discuss how AI is reshaping chip design, why design speed alone will not fix semiconductor bottlenecks, and why power and energy capacity may ultimately limit AI growth. The conversation covers HBM and memory innovation, stacking limits, the shift from copper to optics, consolidation among AI chip startups, and what a VMware for AI agents might look like.
a16z's new Machine Age Fund addresses the unprecedented demand for AI infrastructure, shifting the bottleneck from models to the foundational hardware. The discussion highlights surging Hyperscaler CapEx, component supply crunch extending to 2028, and the exponential compute needs driven by reasoning and agents. It explores how AI turns engineering problems into capital/compute challenges, identifying opportunities for new infrastructure companies in chips, power, and data center redesign, and the emergence of experienced "systems founders" to rebuild the computing stack for this new era.
Dylan Patel, founder of SemiAnalysis, details how software-hardware co-design drives 100x gains in AI performance, citing examples like DeepSeek's optimization for Nvidia Hopper and the architectural differences between OpenAI's sparse and Anthropic's dense models. He introduces InferenceX, a living benchmark tracking a 60x annual cost reduction in AI quality, and explains why the "CUDA moat" narrative is shifting. Patel also delves into the persistent compute crunch, the strategic rise of neoclouds, and Jensen Huang's efforts to foster a multipolar AI world to prevent hyperscaler dominance.
Intel CEO Lip Bu Tan shares his strategic vision for turning around the tech giant, focusing on cultural transformation, strengthening the balance sheet with key investments (including the US government and Nvidia), and driving innovation in foundry, advanced packaging, and new materials. He discusses collaborations like Terafab with Elon Musk, the profound impact of AI on the semiconductor supply chain, and his investment philosophy for the evolving industry, aiming to position Intel for agentic and physical AI at the edge and client, not just centralized compute.
Joseph Krause, CEO of Radical AI, details how his company uses Self-Driving Labs (SDLs) and AI scientists to overcome the experimental bottleneck in materials science. By automating the full loop of hypothesis generation, synthesis, characterization, and testing, Radical AI is accelerating the discovery of novel alloys for aerospace, defense, and semiconductor applications, achieving 10x the pace of traditional methods. Krause explains why materials science is uniquely challenging for AI, how human intuition trains the AI, and why experimental data, not models, forms the core competitive advantage in this rapidly evolving, geopolitically significant field.
US Under Secretary of State Jacob Helberg details Pax Silica, a 14-country economic security coalition designed to secure the entire AI supply chain for the US and its allies. He discusses the creation of a forward-deployed industrial base in the Philippines, contrasts the initiative with China’s Belt and Road, and explains how the US plans to reindustrialize through private sector partnerships, automation, and robotics.