The pace of tech evolution we are seeing now is the fastest of our lives, and it is the technology that has acted as a powerful bridge in the dark Covid times, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said here on Tuesday.
Delivering his keynote address at the Intel Vision 2022 in Dallas, US, he also highlighted the challenges the world faces, challenges that are complex, entwined and reliant on leading-edge tech. These hurdles also require us to collaborate and partner as “we stand at the precipice of digital renaissance”, he asserted.
Intel, with its deep roots in technology and industry-leading innovations, is well placed to leverage the “four super powers” -- ubiquitous compute, cloud to edge infrastructure, pervasive connectivity and AI -- to be at the forefront of this digital renaissance, Gelsinger said.
Elaborating on some of the technologies and products that Intel is associated with, he highlighted its work with Pegatron, better known for building laptops and smartphones. Pegatron has developed a portable 5G base station -- about the size of a carry-on suitcase radio -- designed for emergency responders who could have been stranded without regular connectivity during natural calamities. The 5G network developed with Intel’s collaboration can deliver a gigabit per second of throughput, Gelsinger said.
Touching upon the “chip shortage” and supply chain disruptions, Gelsinger said: “We need more chipmaking capacity... a more diversified, secure, and geographically balanced supply chain. And, we are only getting started.”
In the last quarter alone, Intel has announced new manufacturing locations in Ohio and Germany, in addition to further expansions in Europe.
To coincide with the event, Intel also unveiled a slew of products, including second-generation AI processors for training and inferencing (through Intel’s Habana Labs); a single GPU solution for media transcoding, visual graphics and inference in the cloud called Arctic Sound; and the 12th Gen Intel Core HX processors for hybrid work.
“Talks with Indian govt in early stages”
Talks with the Indian government on setting up a semiconductor facility are in “preliminary stages” Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has said.
“We just participated in the semiconductor summit (Semicon India 2022 in Bengaluru) . We are very encouraged by the initiative. We have just one simple advice: Please help build the infrastructure for the industry, diversify the supply base and secure energy sources, water and transportation. And we think the Indian government is taking the right step forward, “ Gelsinger told BusinessLine.
A company spokesperson added: “Intel India is Intel’s largest design centre outside of the US and we have been investing towards accelerating innovation and design engineering in India over the last two decades. While we are encouraged to see the Indian government’s commitment to building a regional semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem, we currently have no definitive plans for manufacturing in India.”
The Intel CEO had called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, and soon after the meeting, the PM had tweeted “...had excellent discussions on subjects relating to tech, research and innovation. I admire your optimism towards India.”
(This Correspondent was in Texas at the invitation of Intel)