This former Intel CEO Wants to Break Moore’s Law With Light

After Pat Gelsinger he left Intel as CEO at the end of 2024, held 100 meetings in 100 days. The idea, he told WIRED recently, was to limit his options until he found the right thing to do.

The following March, Gelsinger he announced that he previously served as a senior partner at Playground Capital, a capital capital a company focused on deep technology, betting on new technologies created by new science.

Gelsinger participated with the goal of helping a new generation of semiconductor innovators be awakened Moore’s Law. Decades ago, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore predicted that the number of transistors on a chip would double roughly every two years, a similar leap. This has been true for a long time, but as the semiconductor industry push the limits of physicsthe shrinking of atomic transistors has been very difficult and expensive.

Gelsinger believes that the best way to solve this problem is to advance in the art of drawing – drawing chips using nanometer light. The advanced lithography technologydeveloped by Dutch company ASML, allows chip makers to print using light at a 13.5-nanometer wavelength. The ability to integrate more, even smaller ones, the thinking goes, would unlock more powerful processors.

When he joined Playground, Gelsinger served as the chair of xLight, a historic company that is developing new digital signage solutions in the near future. he received money from the US government. (As we talked, Gelsinger repeatedly said the words, “God said, ‘Let there be light!'”)

Like artificial intelligence is promoting the software industrymore VC firms are moving to deeper technology. But few, Gelsinger argues, are better equipped than they are to see the winners.

WIRED caught up with Gelsinger in early July at the RAISE Summit in Paris. We discussed his approach to researching the founders of deep technology, how the US government is changing AI and semiconductors, and why success in those fields goes hand in hand.

This discussion has been edited for accuracy and clarity.

WIRED: About four months separated your departure from Intel and your arrival at Playground. What was going through your head at the time?

PAT GELSINGER: My wife said, “You’re not done yet.”

I was looking for government positions, university positions, CEO positions, private, business. It was definitely a way to slow down. I decided that I didn’t want to make any more reception calls. I did not consider myself a politician. It came down to special things or sales.

I want to do something important, that if it goes well, it will help the people I love.

Why did you decide to go against privacy?

Private sales write big checks, but they don’t just focus on technology. At this stage of my career, do I want to write a big check and worry about getting paid, or do I want to do high tech?

We are at the end of science, proving things. That’s the kind of person I’ve been. I love technology.

The VC community is moving to deep technology in response to the disruption of the software industry by AI. What do you think about how AI is changing as the next revenue opportunity emerges?

The door has been blasted open.

In 2024, the semiconductor industry should hit a trillion dollars by 2030. Now, we will hit a trillion dollars next year. I don’t need my companies to beat the market to make amazing profits. I just need him to win a good percentage. This is what AI has done in deep tech.

The good news is that many businesses are moving in that direction. The bad news is that, more often than not, they forget how to develop deep expertise – how to choose winners and losers.