Intel and Broadcom CEOs Warn Capital Access Could Bottleneck AI Growth
Broadcom's Hock Tan and Intel's Lip-Bu Tan state financing costs may hinder AI expansion more than chip shortages.
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Broadcom CEO Hock Tan and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan warned that access to capital could become the primary constraint on the AI boom, surpassing traditional bottlenecks like semiconductor supply or power availability.
Speaking at the DBS Asia Future Forward Conference in Singapore on Monday, Hock Tan stated, "What I think might be the biggest constraint is capital." He noted that while memory and wafer shortages have been persistent issues, they are expected to ease by 2028 or 2029 as production capacity expands.
Lip-Bu Tan echoed these concerns, highlighting the rising cost of capital and the pressure on companies to demonstrate returns on investment (ROI). "If there's any challenge in the front, it's capital and the cost of capital," he said. Despite these financial headwinds, both executives maintained that near-term demand for AI computing infrastructure remains robust, with Hock Tan predicting the imbalance between demand and supply could persist through 2030.