The 2023 Intel Sustainability Day with the theme of “Sustainable Computing for a Sustainable Future” was held in Beijing on April 12.
“We have to take sustainability deeply to heart, and with that, we are initiating this sustainability forum,” Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said in an inclusive interview with People’s Daily Online on the sidelines of the forum, noting that everything digital runs on semiconductors and computing, and that computing use of energy is becoming an increasing portion of the world’s energy consumption.
Intel is committed to being a hundred percent green energy user by 2030, according to Gelsinger. The company will be the leading user of sustainability in every aspect of how it runs its operations.
Intel will work with the supply chain to ensure that all its suppliers make products it needs in an energy-saving and environmentally friendly manner, he said, adding that the company will reach a net zero footprint by 2040.
The company is taking active measures to drive digital transformation and green development with the help of five tech superpowers - compute, connectivity, infrastructure, AI and sensing.
Intel has been accelerating its IDM 2.0 strategy. Gelsinger said the company, as a semiconductor company, would redouble efforts in leading technologies to become a foundry for the world, and for that, it outlined a “five-nodes-in-four-years strategy,” aiming to go much faster for the transistor innovations.
Intel, having been in China for almost four decades, is proud of the role that it has played with many of the largest companies in digital China, according to him.
He said China’s uniform and consistent message of opening for business gives an opportunity to the company, which also has the responsibility to drive sustainable innovation.
The best innovation happens when companies have different capabilities and different perspectives come together, and digital innovation is central to Intel’s strategy for the future, Gelsinger noted.
Lately, the International Monetary Fund downgraded the global growth forecast, but projected that China’s economy will grow by 5.2 percent in 2023. International observers said that China’s strong economic growth augurs well for the world and the country will be a key engine for global economic growth amid multiple challenges facing the global economy.
Gelsinger believes that it’s an encouraging time as China is refocusing on economic growth.
“We are excited that we have the opportunity to build on those many decades of relationships with many of the customers of China. We also see this consistent positive message of opening for business and engaging with the world," he said, adding that this is a good time for Intel China which wants to be helping the digital economy, doing it as a real focus on technology as a force for good, and building on a future that is much about the sustainability of tomorrow as well.