Intel CEO Takes Aim at Nvidia in Fight for AI Chip Dominance

Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger took the stage at the Computex show in Taiwan to talk about new products he expects will help turn back the tide of share losses to peers, including AI leader Nvidia Corp.

Intel showed its new Xeon 6 data center processors with more efficient cores that will allow operators to cut down the space required for a given task to a third of prior-generation hardware. Like rivals, from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to Qualcomm Inc., Intel touted benchmarks that showed its new silicon is significantly better than its existing options. AMD and Qualcomm’s CEOs, in earlier Computex keynotes, used Intel’s laptop and desktop processors to show how far ahead they are in certain aspects of technology.

Gelsinger took a direct shot at Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s claim that traditional processors like Intel’s are running out of steam in the age of artificial intelligence.

“Unlike what Jensen would have you believe, Moore’s Law is alive and well,” he said, stressing that Intel will have a major role to play in the proliferation of AI as the leading provider of PC chips.

“I think of it like the internet 25 years ago, it’s that big,” Gelsinger said. “We see this as the fuel that’s driving the semiconductor industry to reach $1 trillion by the end of the decade.”

Shares of Intel were little changed at 9:59 a.m. in New York on Tuesday.