This former Intel CEO wants to activate Moore’s Law with light

After Pat Gelsinger Leave As Intel’s CEO in late 2024, he held 100 meetings in 100 days. The idea, he recently told WIRED, was to narrow down his options until he knew what to do next.

The following March, Gelsinger Announce He took over the position of General Partner at Playground Capital, A Venture capital A deep technology company that bets on nascent technologies based on new science.

Gelsinger took on this role with the goal of helping a new generation of semiconductor startups reawaken Moore’s law. Decades ago, Gordon Moore, one of Intel’s co-founders, predicted that the number of transistors on a chip would double roughly every two years, with a corresponding jump in performance. This has been true for a long time, but only for semiconductor companies Press the limits of physics,Scaling down atomic-sized transistors has become increasingly difficult and expensive.

Gelsinger believes the best way to break this impasse is through advances in lithography, that is, etching chips using nanometer-scale light beams. the Pioneering lithography technologydeveloped by Dutch company ASML, allows chip manufacturers to print using light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers. The logic goes that being able to cram in more smaller features would open up more powerful processors.

When he joined Playground, Gelsinger took a seat on the board of xLight, a company developing new lithography technologies that also recently emerged Received investment From the US government. (As we spoke, Gelsinger repeatedly offered this phrase: “God said, ‘Let there be light!’”).

Such as artificial intelligence It turns the software industry upside downmore and more venture capital firms are as well Shift towards deep technology. But Gelsinger asserts that few are better equipped than him to spot winners.

WIRED caught up with Gelsinger in early July at the RAISE Summit in Paris. We discussed his process for vetting deep tech founders, the US government’s changing stance on AI and semiconductors, and why breakthroughs in these fields necessarily come hand in hand.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Wired: There were roughly four months between leaving Intel and arriving at Playground. What was going through your head during that period?

Pat Gelsinger: “You’re not finished yet,” my wife said.

I was looking at government roles, university roles, CEO roles, private equity, and ventures. It was really a deductive process. I decided I didn’t want to make (any more) public earnings calls. I didn’t see myself as a politician. It has come down to private equity or venture.

I want to do things that matter, and that, if successful, will make a difference, with people I enjoy.

Why did you decide not to invest in private equity?

Private equity is writing larger checks, but it’s not focused on technology. At this point in my career, do I want to write big checks and worry about financial returns, or do I want to work in cool technology?

We’re on the edge of science, proving things. That’s always the kind of person I’ve been. I love technology.

A group of venture capital firms are turning to deep technology in response to the software industry being disrupted by artificial intelligence. What do you think about how AI will change as the next investment opportunities arise?

The door has opened wide.

In 2024, the semiconductor industry aims to reach $1 trillion by 2030. Now, we will reach $1 trillion next year. I don’t need my companies to beat the market to get extraordinary returns. I just need them to win by a decent percentage. This is what artificial intelligence has done in deep technology projects.

The good news is that a lot of investment companies are swinging in this direction. The bad news is that, for the most part, they have forgotten how to use deep technology—how to pick winners and losers.