Broadcom CEO Hock Tan Says AI Revenue Targets Haven't Changed After Anthropic Slowdown Push
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan says AI revenue targets are unchanged after Anthropic's slowdown push; Broadcom shares fall 4.8%.
In an interview on CNBC's “Mad Money” with Jim Cramer, Tan was asked whether the AI slowdown debate had caused him to reconsider Broadcom's fiscal 2027 and 2028 AI semiconductor forecasts. “No, not in the least,” Tan said. He said demand for compute infrastructure used in AI development, frontier models and inference for products those models power continues to be “very strong” and, he believes, “very durable.”
Amodei's weekend essay advocated for a moderation in the pace of model development. CNBC reported that the message received support from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk. It prompted investors in AI infrastructure providers to reconsider their expectations for compute demand during Monday's session.
On Broadcom's fiscal 2026 third-quarter earnings call on Sept. 2, Tan forecast AI semiconductor revenue of $115 billion in fiscal 2027, before doubling again to $230 billion in fiscal 2028. The better-than-expected 2028 target was one of the bright spots in Broadcom's earnings report. Broadcom's AI revenue includes custom AI accelerators and networking chips used in AI systems.
Tan also said Anthropic is on track to become Broadcom's largest custom chip customer in 2027 and to sustain that designation in 2028. Google has historically been considered Broadcom's biggest custom customer; the companies co-design Google's tensor processing units. That relationship helps explain why Broadcom investors are sensitive to Amodei's commentary.
In the CNBC interview, Tan was particularly optimistic about demand for inference, the day-to-day usage of AI models after they have been trained. “I don't know about training, but when you want to productize inference, I see it continuing to be very, very strong,” Tan said.
Amodei's essay intensified the debate over whether the AI industry is moving too quickly in developing powerful models. Amodei proposed a three-step plan to slow the pace of development without “sacrificing commercial advantage or the United States' lead in AI,” according to CNBC.
Tan said he agrees with Amodei about the need for some restrictions on AI, but suggested he was less alarmed about where the technology is headed. “Like any tool, it's important to put governances, safeguards on how we use the tool,” Tan told Cramer. He argued, “It's not a live animal that will run wild by itself.”
Tan instead emphasized AI's potential to boost productivity. “AI, generative AI, the creation of those frontier models ... will create huge value,” Tan said, likening it to the Industrial Revolution that began in England in the 18th century. “It is still at the end of the day a tool that will make our society, humanity, reach a better level of living,” Tan said.