Intel's former CEO, Pat Gelsinger, has shared his thoughts on NVIDIA producing the first Blackwell chip wafer in the US, expressing his pleasure with the pursuit of American manufacturing.
Intel's Pat Gelsinger Supports NVIDIA's Efforts to Bring Advanced Product Manufacturing to the US
This marks one of the rare occasions where Gelsinger has actually appreciated NVIDIA's efforts in the AI segment, as, based on some of his past remarks about the firm, Team Green didn't align with what Intel's former CEO had expected from AI. On a post on X, Pat Gelsinger expressed appreciation for NVIDIA's efforts to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. On this specific occasion, he claimed that it has been his vision to "build advanced products" in America, and NVIDIA's achievement is a step in the right direction.
For those unaware, Gelsinger has been advocating for building in the US for some time now, which is why he introduced the "IDM 2.0" strategy within Intel's foundry division, aiming to make the US chipmaker a leading chip entity in the upcoming decade. Intel, under its former CEO, invested heavily in America's chip industry, and the firm was a primary beneficiary of the CHIPS Act introduced under the Biden era. Hence, it is safe to say that Gelsinger has contributed significantly to the "Made in USA" narrative, although his efforts predated the current pursuits of Big Tech by several years.
NVIDIA's Blackwell wafer production in Arizona is indeed a massive feat, but there are still constraints to this achievement, one of which we have discussed in depth earlier. The US lacks sufficient OSAT services, such as advanced packaging facilities, which is why the nation remains reliant on offshore chip plants to complete all stages of chip manufacturing. Of course, building a robust supply chain in a nation is a matter of years, if not decades, but paying attention to elements other than wafer fabrication is an important step towards achieving complete self-sufficiency.
Discussing the Intel-NVIDIA rivalry under the former CEO, the CUDA software stack has been labeled a 'moat' by Gelsinger in the past. More importantly, Intel, under his leadership, has consistently planned to capitalize on the inference segment of the market. Gelsinger has also voiced opposition to NVIDIA's chips being an expensive venture for inference workloads, hence the enmity exists. However, it is still great to see NVIDIA's efforts to bring manufacturing to the US being recognized all across the board, since it is a critical development.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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