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Intel CEO aims to use technology to 'identify, treat and deal with future global pandemics'

Bob Swan, Intel CEO, joins Yahoo Finance's Alexis Christoforous and Brian Sozzi to discuss Intel's 2030 goals and strategies to continue progress in corporate responsibility, state of the semiconductor industry, investment in autonomous vehicles and more.

Video Transcript

BRIAN SOZZI: It has been a pretty big few weeks for Intel. Earnings came in strong. The company but urban mobility platform MoveIt for $900 million. And now Intel's laying out new environmental and diversity goals. Joining us to discuss all this is Bob Swan. He is Intel's CEO. Bob, good to speak with you. Thanks for taking some time this morning.

So you outlined your 2030 goals in a note yesterday. One of those is pandemic preparedness. How has this pandemic changed how Intel does business?

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BOB SWAN: First, Brian, good morning. It's great to be with you. As you said, we laid out our CSR report yesterday, which in effect did two things. One, it laid out what we accomplished relative to the goals that we set a decade ago. And we have some real important accomplishments. But at the same time, to your question, we laid out the goals for ourselves over the next-- over the next 10 years. And at this time, it's a really important time for us and for the industry because when we complete a decade and look forward, it gives us the opportunity to kind of step back and say, hey, what are the real challenges in the world.

And then for us as an industry and Intel as a large player in the industry, what are the big ambitious things that we think, together with other players in the industry, we can make a real big difference on the things that matter most? One of those initiatives is how to improve-- revolutionize how technology is used to improve health and safety of-- of-- of the universe, if you will.

So just a relatively short period of time ago, in the midst of COVID-19, we set aside a $60 million fund which in essence is used in conjunction with our partners from ideas from our employees to use technology to identify, hopefully treat, and deal with global pandemics in the event they come down the path again. So it's an example of the role we think we can play by leveraging technology to revolutionize health and safety so that we enrich the lives of every person on Earth, which is our purpose and our mission here at Intel.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOUROS: Bob, I know that you are working along with other chip makers with the US government in an effort to expand semiconductor manufacturing capabilities within the US so that we're not as reliant as-- as we have been on Asia to get a lot of these parts. I'm sure you saw this morning the Trump administration has moved to block semiconductor shipments to the Chinese chip maker Huawei. What does that mean in particular for-- for Intel?

BOB SWAN: Well, first, Alexis, we are the largest semiconductor player in the world. And we have a significant amount of our R&D, roughly $13 billion, and our manufacturing footprint located here in the US. So every year, we spend $25 to $30 billion dollars on R&D, on expanding our global footprint predominantly here in the US. But we play a global role in terms of the technologies that we provide.

So we continue to work with the US government on opportunities to expand our footprint here. But at the same time, we're big proponents of global trade because the role we play is fairly significant around the world, including in China. So we have important customers there. We're always trying to figure out, how do we deliver our technologies around the world. And at the same time, we take into account the rules of the road that we have to contend with to ensure that we're both serving our customers but also we're doing it in the context of an evolving landscape and export control rules that come along.

BRIAN SOZZI: Bob, to your point, you do have a big business in China. As you've seen that economy now start to reopen, what are you seeing in your business?

BOB SWAN: Well, I mean, I think you mentioned in the intro, Brian, we had a fantastic first quarter. And in essence, while we expected a strong quarter coming into the year, the growth towards the end of the quarter was much larger than we expected. And I really attribute it to, number one, the impact COVID was having. But two, you know, we-- our technologies represent 95% of the global internet infrastructure.

And all of the sudden, when people had to work and study from home, they needed the tools and the technologies that we provide. So they could have an essential PC at their home so they could work and they could study.

At the same time, everybody had to be connected. So the demand signals we saw from the cloud service providers around the world to ensure people could stay connected was relatively high. That benefits us as the largest player in the industry. So we had an outstanding first quarter. Our expectations for the second quarter are relatively strong. And our outlook for the second half is-- honestly, it's a bit cloudy in light of how these global pandemic impact on the economy is going to impact demand signals for-- for the industry.

But the first half will be a very strong first half. And we'll learn more as we go to the second quarter for the outlook for the year.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOUROS: Bob I saw that Nvidia announced its new line of DGX servers-- announced it's going to be using AMD's processors. It's a slot that has typically gone to your company. What's it mean to lose that business?

BOB SWAN: Well, first and foremost, the way we look at the industry today is the served market, the silicon that goes into compute is going to be roughly a $300 billion market by 2024. The role that we play is really two-fold. Number one, the evolution of compute is changing dramatically. It's no longer just the PC or the data center or the cloud. But we see the evolution of compute moving out to the network edge and these billions of connected devices at the edge. So our served market is a significantly bigger market than we've ever served before, number one.

Number two, that means we're no longer-- we no longer view ourselves as a 90% market share player with relatively little room to grow. On the contrary, we're a 30% player in a huge market opportunity where we have built and assembled the set of capabilities that we think are the best in the industry, whether it's CPU, whether it's GPUs, artificial intelligence, whether they go into a PC, a server, an automobile, a home, a smart city. Increasingly, the world to us, everything looks like a computer in need of the technologies that we build. So the opportunity is relatively large. And we're excited to-- we're excited to get after it.

BRIAN SOZZI: Bob, I can't let you go without asking about that MobilEye business. You have doubled this business in terms of revenue since you bought the company in 2017. You have added to the business with the acquisition of MoveIt. Do you still see a world of robo taxis in this-- this area where a lot of people are free to getting an Uber, they're afraid of getting in a Lyft, they're afraid for their health?

BOB SWAN: Well, yes, we have doubled the business. But our aspirations have also grown quite a bit in terms of the role that we and technology can play so that vehicles can move safely. And you know, again, back to the original question about our corporate social responsibility, we believe the role that MobilEye can play with the inclusion of the acquisition of MoveIt is with a north star of safety, how do we work with the industry, private and public partnerships to bring mathematical algorithms to improve safety on the roads and reduce congestion and, in turn, reduce the impact of emissions getting into the air.

So it's a classic example for us about expanding the role MobilEye can play coupled with our purpose to enrich the lives of every person on earth with world-changing technology so that we can expand the horizons that we play to bring safe driving, whether it's a robo taxi or whether it's an individual driving their own car. We see a significant opportunity set. And MobilEye and MoveIt are a huge part of it. And we expect it to continue to grow going forward.

BRIAN SOZZI: All right, let's leave it there. Intel CEO Bob Swan, thanks for taking some time. And good luck on those 2030 goals. Good to see you-- good to see you trying to orchestrate that.

BOB SWAN: Thank you very much, a pleasure.