This goal from CTO Greg Lavender comes after the chip giant disappointed shareholders in April with a lower-than-expected forecast for the second quarter.
Intel has been seeing strong demand for its Gaudi 3 chip that can help it catch up to rival Nvidia and take second place in the AI chip market, according to chief technology officer Greg Lavender.
One of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers by revenue, Intel has not had as smooth a sailing as some of its competitors when it comes to benefitting from the AI boom.
In its most recent earnings call, the company reported a 10pc drop in revenue from its foundry business and presented a lower-than-expected forecast for the second quarter, causing shares to fall around 8pc in the aftermath.
But now, Lavender thinks that the chipmaker is on its way to turning things around with its recent push into software.
Lavender, the former CTO of VMware who joined Intel three years ago, told Reuters in an interview that he expects Intel’s cumulative revenue from software to reach $1bn by the end of 2027.
“I have a goal of getting to $1bn of software and developer cloud subscription revenue,” he told the publication. “I think I’m on track to hit this goal by the end of 2027 … maybe sooner.”
On the AI front, Intel previously made claims that its Gaudi 3 chip has better performance and energy efficiency than its Nvidia counterpart, the popular H100.
When first revealing the AI chip in April, Intel said Gaudi 3 delivers on average 50pc better inference and 40pc better power efficiency than Nvidia H100 at a “fraction” of the cost.
While Nvidia is leading the AI chip race, competitors in the space other than Intel include Alphabet, AMD, Amazon, IBM and Qualcomm.
CEO Pat Gelsinger said at the time that innovation is advancing at an “unprecedented” pace thanks to the chips that power it, and that every company is “quickly becoming an AI company”.
“Intel is bringing AI everywhere across the enterprise, from the PC to the data centre to the edge,” he said. “Our latest Gaudi, Xeon and Core Ultra platforms are delivering a cohesive set of flexible solutions tailored to meet the changing needs of our customers and partners and capitalise on the immense opportunities ahead.”
Last month, Intel agreed to sell a 49pc stake in its Fab 34 chip plant in Leixlip, Ireland to investment firm Apollo Global Management. The company said the deal will “enhance the company’s strong balance sheet with capital at a cost below Intel’s cost of equity”.
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