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On Semiconductor CEO Hassane El-Khoury is watching the supply disruptions from the Gulf closely, but told Semafor World Economy that his company is hedged through the rest of the year.
Asked about the impact of the helium shortage fueled by the Strait of Hormuz closure on chip manufacturing, El-Khoury said Wednesday: “I’m watching it. But the way I measure the urgency of it is, is it at my desk yet or not? Not yet,” he said.
He said his message to customers is that the company has modeled for enough supplies even if the strait remains closed for the rest of the year.
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El-Khoury also said that Chinese chip companies are “a couple of generations” behind the technology of onsemi, but he cautioned against complacency as the pace of technological advancements accelerates amid the AI boom.
“As long as we are a moving target… we are ahead. That’s technology,” he said.
“Get to number one and be so nervous that somebody is behind you that they will not catch you. To me, that’s the beauty of technology and that’s the beauty of American companies.”
El-Khoury has steered the chipmaker toward growth in AI data centers and electric vehicles since taking the helm of the company in 2020, with expectations for high-teen percentage growth for its first quarter of 2026 in its AI infrastructure business.
“I’m very bullish about that segment,” El-Khoury told analysts on Feb. 9, saying that the company’s AI data center revenue grew to more than $250 million in 2025 from “almost nothing” in 2024.