ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet expects the development of AI models such as DeepSeek to impact chip demand positively. This development is increasing the need for advanced semiconductors for the models.
According to Fouquet, the growing demand for chips is being driven by the rapid development of new applications. Last Monday, however, there was a big shock in the stock market for chip funds following the unexpectedly good performance of China’s DeepSeek. ASML’s CEO was asked about that. “We believe that when it comes to the size of our business, the demand will come more from the use of AI” than training large AI models, Fouquet said.
Lower costs
According to ASML’s CEO, the picture of spending on AI is distorted by the huge investments of hyperscalers Google, Meta and Microsoft. They spend billions of dollars building data centers full of advanced chips. “If you look at the number of chips related to that, it’s pretty small in fact,” Fouquet explained when presenting the financial figures.
The ACML CEO refers to chip needs in different situations. An AI chip in a smartphone costs much less than what a hyperscaler pays for it. “If the cost doesn’t go down, you may continue to sell a few very expensive chips and make a few people very happy, but you will not basically bring this technology to the masses and the volume will remain small,” Fouquet responded. To end on DeepSeek: “I don’t know exactly what DeepSeek can or cannot do, but I say again, anything that will drive costs down is good news for ASML on the long term.”
Tip: ASML hits record annual revenue of 27.6 billion euros in turbulent 2023