Bloomberg Tech at CES, Day 2

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1:02Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News.

1:11Bloomberg Tech is live from coast to coast with Caroline Hyde in New York and Ed Ludlow in San Francisco.

1:24Welcome to a special edition of Bloomberg Tech live from CES in Las Vegas. We've been bringing you conversations from the biggest names in the industry. And today, we have another great lineup. Coming up first, we sit down with Jim Johnson of Intel's client computing group to discuss the chipmaker's efforts to make its products competitive again. Plus, Warner Brothers rejects an amended takeover offer from Paramount's Skydance. We'll break it all down with Paul Pastor of QuickPay. We'll be joined by Mobilize's CEO to discuss the company's acquisition of Israeli startup Menti Robotics in a cash-in-stock deal valued at$900 million.

1:58The deal's still getting done, but let's check in on these markets, which are being ruled by geopolitics once more. Nasdaq managing to brush that off a little bit more than the S &P. Remember, we're still now at record highs on the S &P. We're up another three-tenths of a percent on the main benchmark when it comes to the tech names. Maybe less affected by what's happening in terms of geopolitics and Russia and the US at the moment out in the seas. But we're currently holding on to gains, eh? Geopolitics is always there. I'm looking at NVIDIA. It is the mainstay of this CES week, with Jensen Wang speaking multiple times.

2:28The stock is up almost 1.5 % in the current session. You know, there are headlines out right now from the information that China is asking its tech companies to halt orders of H200. Jensen Wang's been peppered with questions about H200 for the last three days straight. And you can see over three days, this was not the blockbuster that we thought it would be to start the year. NVIDIA's up half a percentage point. Now, the big data point was the forecast for the next few quarters. Blackwell and Rubin and this is what Jensen Wong had to say about that forecast. Hopper pricing is actually going up in the cloud.

3:04All of the hoppers are consumed in cloud and now pricing, spot pricing is starting to go up and so that tells you about the demand that's being generated all over the world. So H200s I think is going to contribute also to that and I think Like, all told, I think we should have a very good year. That question was posed to Jensen Wong by Bloomberg's Ian King, who's covered semiconductors here since 1998. And the context is that you said to him in October, you told us over five fiscal quarters, $500 billion of sales across Blackwell and then Rubin. Is it possible that that number could go up? And as we just heard, there are various reasons why Jensen thinks that number could go up.

3:50Yeah, I mean, fundamentally here, all our audience care about is are we in a bubble or not? And they just want any piece of information, any hint to explain why we're not. And obviously what he was saying was there's lots of things going on. There's new models. There's new areas of the economy that are coming into AI. And all of this means that demand is actually better than I thought it was. So that number is looking like it's a bit low. So that was good news. But nobody got that excited about it. Where they did get excited is memory storage. which, oh, my goodness, Sandisk is up 1 ,000 % from its lows.

4:23It's up 50 % in the first three trading days of the year, Ian. What are you hearing in terms of this demand for memory and the price point that we're going to see? I mean, as always with the memory chip industry, you either got a feast or a famine. At the moment, we're in a famine. When we're in a famine, the price goes up, right? And that is exactly what's happening right now. Supply and demand is basically what you're teaching us. Always has been. They can't build factories fast enough. They can't build production fast enough to meet these short-term surges in demand. So right now the price is going up.

4:52And we're actually talking storage as well, not just the high bandwidth memory that goes around the GPU. A point of discussion on the Internet has been autonomous driving. Once again, NVIDIA came out strong with autonomous driving. You and I were sat next to each other in the keynote, and you can tell us about NVIDIA's offering. But it also caught the attention of Elon Musk and Tesla, of course. Yeah, I mean, there was a little bit of a backwards and forwards between Jensen and Elon. about whose system is better, and both of them ending up praising what the other's doing in the end because, let's face it, they need each other.

5:24But this is the point that we're at. We've been promised cars that are robots that can do their own thing for a very long time. Hasn't happened as fast as we were promised, and what we're being told now is we're at the cusp of this, and this is great if you're making chips, if you're making the components for these vehicles. Cars, robots, we've seen a lot of them. We're going to continue to see a lot of them. Ian King, we thank him so much for his decades of work in the chip sector as well. But let's stay with NVIDIA because, of course, Ed, you sat down with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Wang and Xeeman CEO Ronan Butch to discuss their latest partnership, the expansion of AI efforts.

5:57Just take a listen. We're announcing a big partnership between us. We've known each other for a long time. But the partnership we're announcing is really a big deal. One, we're accelerating their EDA software. We're accelerating their simulation software. We're integrating AI technology, physical AI and agentic AI into their team center and their factory automation operating system. And so we're working together across this entire spectrum. When we accelerate the software, then we'll get to use it to design our chips and systems. When we accelerate their simulation software, we'll use it in our AI factories to simulate the thermal properties of our AI factories.

6:41When we integrate our automation and agentic systems into their AI industrial operating system, we can then use it in our factory floors with our partners, for example, Foxconn. And so we're working across this entire spectrum together, and we're going to put the technology to use basically as soon as we can. What's the net effect for you, Jensen? It improves margins, efficient capital allocation. I know that might sound a bit dry, but actually right now that's the answer everyone's searching for. How has this investment in AI and use of the technology actually changed things in the real world for me?

7:16Well, we announced yesterday Verirubin. It takes six different chips to integrate into this incredible system called Verirubin. And when you're done, each one of these Verirubin GPUs is 240 ,000 watts. And it is 10 times more energy efficient than the last generation. It is 10 times more cost efficient than the last generation. But still, the technology is insanely complicated. 15 ,000 engineering years came together to build this system. And so when we accelerate EDA tools, when we accelerate simulation tools, and when we can eventually, and I'm hoping very soon, design entire Vera Rubin systems inside a Siemens digital twin, the chance, the ability for us to create much, much more complex systems will scale.

8:08We'll do it much more efficiently. And so this is really about being able to do the impossible and being able to do the impossible right the first time. And once we then realize that AI creates real-world impact, this is where it really deploys the full power and also the economic power. It's not only in the data centers or in the AI factories, which we see, but also on the edge. Because once you start inferencing with low latency, you bring this technology to the edge. This is a huge potential for our customers to deploy this technology. And this includes, of course, hardware, where we come from the JITs.

8:47It goes into the controllers. Some of our controllers run on GPUs. And then it goes all the way to the industrial PC. Exactly. Now these industrial PCs are AI industrial PCs. We supercharge it, and they can now run algorithms trained in the cloud. they can run it on the shop floor and do all that trick, what we talked about it in real-time optimization and running in a plant. And that makes a huge difference. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Wang and Siemens CEO Roland Bush, they're starting their own industrial revolution is how they put it. Coming up, Intel looks to gain a competitive edge with new computers and redesigned processors.

9:28We speak with Jim Johnson, Intel Client Computing Group SVP and general manager. That's coming up next. This is Bloomberg Tech.

9:43Intel is here at CES with a slew of new products from laptops to newly designed chips. And it's part of an effort to be more competitive across its product lineup. Joining us now, Jim Johnson, Intel Client Computing Group, SVP and general manager. And the way you would describe but the vibes are good? Like people are feeling positive about what you're unveiling. Yes, it's been a long journey to get here. And finally launching, you know, what we think is the most powerful mobile processor for mobile computing with our new process, Node 18A. It's something the industry has been waiting for and wondering if we would pull off.

10:17Okay, for those that aren't deeply within the industry and coming to your foundry and understanding what's going into this new processor, the core Ultra Series 3, what makes them different? We took our most powerful mobile processor from last year and built it on the most power efficient mobile processor from last year, combining those two capabilities. And so we run workloads from last year at 40 % lower power this year on this processor. And I've been asking, knowing I've been coming here, I've been asking our customers, what would you say? They'd say super powerful, surprisingly power efficient.

10:55That's what they told me last night. So here's the thing, Jim, and with respect, AMD and Qualcomm's customers would say the same thing. You know, AMD and Qualcomm have already been out there this week saying that their processors and parts, best battery life, best performance. And they both argue that they're taking share, right? What data points can you point me to that would evidence Intel's back in the lead in that market based on this technology? I get asked quite often, what's the killer app for an AIPC? and up until this part, I didn't have an answer. But if you're into mobile gaming, we built a GPU in Series 3 with an AI capability called multi-frame generation.

11:36So you would typically render a frame and then render a frame. In between, you can now use AI to do multi-frame generation. It's quadrupling the frame rate and super smooth play. So I would take that system up against any of our competitors if you're into mobile gaming. But is Intel in the lead? I believe so, yes. 2026 is fascinating, bigger picture. You have some forecasters, I think IDC, saying that the market will shrink 9 % this year. You have others saying it will grow literally because of AI PC. What is your kind of forecast? And, you know, it comes back to the same question we've had at CES for a couple of years now is, does the AI PC resonate with anyone at the corporate level or at the consumer level?

12:19So a couple of things. So that is part of the conversation we're having this week. But the feedback I keep getting from our customers is keep ramping supply of these new processors because they believe they're going to win with them. Right. And from an AI standpoint, another thing that's happened, because we've been deploying AI PCs now for two years, we have the equivalent of 40 data centers worth of compute on the edge. And now we have, like Arvin, the CEO of Perplexity, came and did a talk with me. And he's now figuring out with us how to run portions of his Comet browser directly on the AI PC for four reasons.

12:55He sees better performance. He sees better security and privacy, better cost. But more importantly, more control. So for business, they have more control. So I'm seeing these big AI companies actually start to tap into what can they do more locally. Same with, so I guess another thing that's happened is edge computing. I know you've been talking about edge computing between cloud and PC. We used to sell these parts maybe a year or two after we launched them into factories and so forth. But because the Series 3 processor is really good at perceiving the environment with our visual processor and doing motor control of factory equipment and robotics, we have demand on day one for Series 3 from edge customers.

13:41So let's talk about the supply because you have got vertical integration. You're actually using your foundries. You are printing the silicon. Yes. And we're building capacity specifically for clients. And that's a real value proposition for our customers because they can depend on us to keep supporting our product lines for them. But in a way, you are the client of your own Intel foundry. Yes. Why did you go with them, not TSMC? What turned you to think, OK, these are the ones, this is the supplier I need? There's three things that they did with 18A that's really impressive. They used the latest EUV technology you can buy.

14:16Type U-SML. Yep, yep, that's right, that's right. And they did two new unique innovations. We call it ribbon-fet, or gate all around, and backside power delivery so you can separate power from signals. We get 15 % better performance per watt, and multiply that times 20 or 25 watts in a PC, and we have 30 % better chip density. And so that allows us to compact our design, which allows our customers to compact their design and put in bigger batteries. And so you get they're now driving all day battery life to multi-day battery life. Jim, I think we have to end by talking about pricing. You know, the background is that memory is an issue at the moment.

14:57How do you manage it? Do you pass on the cost or do you weather the storm, feast and famine, cyclical memory problems? You've been around, right, with respect. It's a conversation we're having this week. A conversation or an acknowledgement that it's a problem? Well, it definitely is an issue in the industry. Our customers are struggling on what they're going to do with it, and they haven't decided yet. But what they're asking us to do is keep our build plan solid, because in 2026, they see a chance to really gain share on the back of Series 3. We just have a few seconds. Does the PC market grow, stay flat, or shrink in 2026?

15:33I think it's going to be plus or minus where it's at. Now, some people are much more dire than that. But we had the same conversation when tariffs came up. And all the predictions, whether really drastic or big pull-ins, they kind of didn't come true. There was something more in the middle. So we're planning for more in the middle. But, of course, we'll react with our customers as we need to. Jim Johnson, Intel client, computing group SVP and general manager. Thank you so much. Coming up, a conversation with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon on why robotics is the next big thing in AI. And they're not alone in that.

16:08This is Bloomberg Tech.

16:17Robotics is the next big opportunity in AI. That's according to Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon. Caro sat down with him here at CES in Las Vegas yesterday. Listen to this. yes look we're incredibly excited about this is a new chapter i think of the qualcomm expansion and diversification i think we're going to robotics we like robotics a lot because by definition is an edge ai problem to solve not different than what we did in automotive you cannot put a server in a robot you need battery life you need a lot of integration of sensors and physical AI is a massive opportunity and it's an edge AI opportunity.

16:54So as we look at this transition of Qualcomm into new industry, we went to automotive, to PC, to industrial, to data center. Now robotics is the next opportunity. We actually have a number of robots here at our booth at CES demonstrating training, humanoids, industrial. I think we started the year working with some great companies, German, KUKA, Figure AI, and I think it's going to be a great opportunity. In robotics, it's perfect for you to have high-performance computing and low-power connectivity. It's an edge AI problem, and I think it's going to be the next big wave of AI, physical AI. How soon is that reality?

17:39Already we have robots in manufacturing and industrials, but how soon is it fully autonomous robots? How soon do we start to have the humanoid versions in our houses? Look, the way we think about this is things that you didn't thought were possible to do with a robot, you can do it right now using AI. I think industrial robot is the big, largest opportunity that we see in front of us, and it's probably starting as early as 2026. when you train use ai to train a robot on one given task uh it's it's a very well defined problem and you can do this and you put into production consume a robot the one that is going to be in your house and do everything for you it's going to take a little bit of time but it's going to happen and it's going to be a big opportunity i like to do this parallel that we saw with automotive when we start talking about autonomous cars a lot of companies went in and said we're just going to get the full autonomous robotaxi.

18:38But until you get there, you can do assisted driving to every car on the road, assuming that the driver is there to pick it up. And we've seen ADAS level two, level three, highway autopilot, highway autopilot. That's what we're doing. I think the same parallel applies to robotics. First, you have a lot of enterprise in the industrial applications. We see companies, for example, in retail at night, robot, go to the aisles of the supermarket and restock the shelves. Something very simple. That opportunity is happening right now. Over time, we're going to have the domestic robot that will do everything for you.

19:15Qualcomm CEO Cristiano, I'm on there, trying to be a little bit more realistic about how soon we're going to have humanoid robots in our homes. But robotics is one of the key themes that everywhere here in CES right now. Sam Kelly should have been tracking them on the shop floor, or shall we call it? And Sam, I mean, everywhere you look, there's a humanoid. Is that your vibe? And is everyone taking that form factor? Yeah, it's so funny. Yesterday I was walking around, I saw one playing ping pong. One made me a latte. There was a chess robot, you know, and some of them are on the enterprise side too, showing what it could be like on the assembly line.

19:48But yeah, humanoids in particular are really big. This year we saw during a keynote, LG had its cloyed robot come out, folding laundry, lots of laundry folding robots as well. And I think it shows one thing that's really interesting is before a lot of these were in controlled experiments. Of course, that's still happening. But companies are now coming out and doing more live demos, which shows a little bit more confidence. A lot of growth. Also, we've seen some challenges around hand, finger movements. Legs is another challenge. So certainly challenges ahead. Dexterity. I mean, when we were speaking to Jensen Wong yesterday, you know, he labels this the chat GPT moment for robotics.

20:25Right. But there are still challenges. Oh, yeah. Is there any acknowledgement here on the showroom floor that we aren't going to see these robots in our homes tomorrow necessarily? Yeah, I mean, I think we can see that just by sometimes looking at a demo and it might take a while. Or even with LG, the robot was doing the laundry, but it took a long time. It was a little painfully slow. So we're certainly not there yet. And also just to have it in the home, you have cluttered homes. Homes are unpredictable. You have to be really careful, especially with humanoids with legs. You don't want them falling.

20:54So we are certainly very, this is not happening anytime too soon. And that's what this is about. This is about pushing forward the innovation, thinking what's coming in the next decade, maybe not the next 10 months. But Sam, what are you seeing in terms of health and wellness? Because I'm hearing a lot about robots, perhaps, there for mental health or caring for the elderly. But you're seeing a lot of other areas where health and wellness is going. Yeah, exactly. Different form factors. So we're all familiar with the smartwatches and the smart rings, of course. But now, yesterday, I saw a toothbrush that predicts signs of longevity, whether you might be more likely to get a certain type of disease or kidney issues from a toothbrush because of saliva is actually a little bit more of a predictor than just like the skin.

21:38Yes. So different form factors like that. I saw a longevity mirror that analyzed my blood flow to predict maybe perhaps signs of either hypertension down the line or other heart health, things like that. um also a smart night guard so people who grind their teeth at night um in addition it'll like nudge you so you stop doing that but it also again with the saliva in your sleep and it'll predict um issues long-term issues with your health but also it'll um tell you how well you're sleeping sleep tracking sleep apnea things like that so different types of health uh it's coming into different form factors so super quick you've been to many ces yeah the vibe relative to prior years yeah um it feels like excited you know to the point of like a chat gbt moment people are really excited to be here and show off different new things and i think there's you know who knows what you know this is a testing ground who knows what really is going to happen but there's definitely a level of excitement for sure check out what sam's been writing about on bloomberg.com right uh carrie yeah and you're going to have a big conversation later it's all going to be about health, wellness, aura, and particularly about what, well, how this goes in sync with the FDA, right, when you think about health.

22:50Tom Hale, aura CEO, The Ring wearable, I'm not an aura wearer, but, you know, right now they have a lot of questions about how they go beyond, particularly a female user base. All to come, Bloomers, I'm Kelly, thank you. Coming up, we've got a big conversation with Mobilize CEO Amnon Shashua of the acquisition of a robotics company, Menti. It is halftime. We are in Las Vegas. This is CES. Stay with us. This is Bloomberg Tech.

23:23Welcome back to Bloomberg Tech, a very special edition live in Las Vegas for CES. Let's take a look at these markets because, look, we are being ruled to an extent by fresh geopolitical tension, but not the last 100. We remain in gains up a quarter of a percentage point. Yes, there's all eyes on memory makers. Yes, there's all eyes on NVIDIA and AMD post some of their announcements. But we want to put all our eyes on one particular stock right now, Ed, because Mobileye yesterday had a pretty key announcement. A new deal, a deal to the tune of$900 million, combining cash, Mobileye shares to buy Menti Robotics.