Rene Haas, chief executive of chip designer Arm Holdings, believes artificial intelligence will do something humans have not been able to do on their own. He says AI will help find a cure for cancer within our lifetime.
Haas made the comments during an interview with the BBC's Big Boss Interview podcast. He explained that modeling how a DNA marker is affected by cancer is currently too complex a task, even for today's most advanced computers.
He believes that will change. As more medical data gets fed into AI systems, and as computing power grows, Haas thinks these systems will eventually crack problems that have stumped scientists for decades.
What Experts in Cancer Research Say
Not everyone agrees the size of the computer is what matters most. Professor Chris Bakal from the Institute of Cancer Research in London said the real question is not whether AI gets used in medicine, but what data it learns from.
Bakal, who also leads a company called Sentinal4D, said his lab trains AI using data collected directly from patient samples. He said this approach does not require a massive data center to run.
He added that this kind of targeted approach could shorten the time it takes to develop new treatments. He called this the area where AI can deliver real value to patients.
Haas did not limit his predictions to medicine. He also said AI-powered humanoid robots will become common within the next five years.
He described robots that could learn new tasks on the job, such as making a bed one day and cleaning a room the next. He said this kind of flexibility would extend into manufacturing, security, and building repairs.
Chip Supply Remains a Bottleneck
Despite his optimism, Haas said the pace of AI growth is being held back by one thing: a shortage of chips.
He pointed to plans for large data centers in France, the United States, and even in space. But he said the industry does not yet have enough chip factories to support that kind of expansion.
Haas was doubtful that chip manufacturing could shift to the UK anytime soon. He said building chip factories requires huge amounts of money, skilled workers, and natural resources that are not easily available everywhere.
This comes as the UK government has held talks with the tech industry about bringing more chip manufacturing to British soil. Chip production is currently centered around Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, known as TSMC.
On the topic of jobs, Haas pushed back against fears that AI will eliminate large numbers of positions. He said predictions about mass job losses from automation are somewhat overstated.
He argued that new job opportunities created by AI will help offset losses in other areas. Haas also downplayed concerns about a possible correction in AI stock valuations, citing long-term demand for the technology.
Arm's technology is currently used in half of the world's AI data centers, according to Haas. The company has also expanded into designing its own chips.
Meta asked Arm to develop a custom chip called the Arm AGI chip. Haas said demand for that chip has been "off the charts," generating more than $2 billion in orders since its launch in March.
Arm was founded in Cambridge and remains headquartered there. Haas said the company continues to be the largest employer in the city, with half of its workforce still based in the UK.
