SINGAPORE — The chief executives of Intel and Broadcom warned that access to capital could emerge as a major constraint on the artificial intelligence boom, even as demand for computing infrastructure continues to outstrip supply.

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said financing could become a bigger obstacle to AI expansion than shortages of semiconductors, memory chips or electricity, as the industry races to build the infrastructure needed to power increasingly sophisticated models.

″[What] I think might be the biggest constraint is capital,” Hock Tan said at the DBS Asia Future Forward Conference in Singapore on Monday.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan echoed concerns about financing, pointing to the rising cost of capital and questions over whether companies investing heavily in AI will eventually generate sufficient returns.

“If there’s any challenge in the front, it’s capital and the cost of capital, and then the other part is in the longer run, people want to see the ROI,” he said.

Their remarks highlight an emerging challenge for the AI industry, which has poured enormous sums into data centers, advanced chips and power infrastructure in anticipation of surging demand for computing capacity.

The warnings come as rising borrowing costs threaten to complicate financing for technology companies investing heavily in AI infrastructure. Higher bond yields could make it more expensive to fund data center construction and chip purchases, potentially putting pressure on the economics of projects that may take years to generate returns.

Hock Tan said the industry has repeatedly encountered supply bottlenecks over the past two years, but expects some of those constraints to ease as production capacity expands.

″[In the] last two years we have seen a series of bottlenecks that keep coming out, but then we overcome it,” he said. “Memory shortage today might not be that way a year from now.”

He suggested that wafer shortages could ease by 2028 or 2029, while power availability could also improve as new infrastructure comes online.

Despite the financing concerns, both executives remained bullish on near-term demand for AI computing infrastructure.

“There is more demand for compute infrastructure than we can supply,” Hock Tan said, adding that the imbalance could persist through 2029 and potentially into 2030.

Intel’s Tan similarly said the industry was unlikely to experience a significant slowdown over the next two to three years, citing growing adoption of AI applications and demand for computing power.

But sustaining that growth beyond the next few years will depend on how quickly businesses adopt AI and whether the technology delivers meaningful economic benefits, the executives said.

Broadcom’s Tan cautioned that demand for computing infrastructure could slow if the adoption of advanced AI models disappoints or improvements in their capabilities begin to plateau.

Lip-Bu Tan, meanwhile, emphasized that companies would increasingly need to demonstrate tangible returns from AI investments through improved efficiency and new business models.

Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford were on Monday awarded the Nobel prize in economics for work that underpins the models used by central banks and governments.

The U.S.-born pair were jointly awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, a prize established by Sweden’s central bank in 1968, for their research into the “microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation.”

They will split the 12 million Swedish kronor ($1.19 million) prize.

Hall and Woodford have “significantly improved our ability to implement effective stabilisation policy,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

“On the basis of these models, well-timed fiscal and monetary policy measures can reduce the economy’s peaks and troughs.”

Hall, born in California, is a professor at Stanford University, while Massachusetts-born Woodford is a professor at Columbia University.

“With them, we are better equipped to deal with shocks in the economy, such as energy crises or sudden changes in how much households consume,” John Hassler, chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, said in a statement.

China’s central bank has bought gold for 23 straight months, and the country is importing more of the precious metal than ever.

That buying spree reflects Beijing’s push to cut its dependence on the dollar, and Chinese households’ lack of safe alternatives, with analysts expecting sustained demand for the bullion in a struggling economy.

The People’s Bank of China added about 23 tonnes in September, its biggest monthly purchase in almost three years, according to State Administration of Foreign Exchange data, extending the longest purchasing streak since at least 2015.

Chinese households and companies are turning to gold as a safe haven. The country spent a record $158.8 billion, importing more than 1,000 tonnes in the first eight months of 2026, customs data show. That exceeds the $96.5 billion and 886 tonnes imported in all of 2025.

Consumer gold imports in China hit a record in the first eight months of this year, according to Aakash Doshi, head of gold strategy at State Street Investment Management. The surging premiums in China’s onshore prices indicate “stronger winter seasonal demand,” Doshi said.

The accumulation of the metal comes as gold prices have fallen. They pulled back more than 8% in September to about $4,176 an ounce, after in January hitting a record above $5,500.

Doshi forecasts gold prices to rise to $4,750 to $5,500 per troy ounce by the end of the first quarter in 2027, buoyed by robust demand.

Why China is buying

The PBOC’s main motive is political, according to Carsten Menke, an analyst at Julius Baer Group, pointing to “the weaponization of the U.S. dollar and the related desire to be less dependent on U.S. Treasuries as a reserve asset.”

Western governments froze Russia’s central bank assets after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, underscoring how foreign-held reserves can be restricted at times of geopolitical friction, while gold in a country’s own vaults remains insulated.

China has offloaded holdings of Treasurys, which reached an 18-year low of $618 billion in July, according to U.S. Treasury data, as Beijing continued to diversify its foreign-exchange reserves.

Chinese demand is also being fueled by gold’s reputation as a safe haven. Consumers in the country, nervous about the shaky economy, are loading up on gold jewelry, bars and coins.

Domestic investors have few alternatives with the real estate market, once the main store of household wealth, locked in a multiyear slump. The benchmark CSI 300 index is down around 8% this year, versus the S&P 500′s 13% gain. Returns from bank deposits and bonds have declined amid tepid borrowing demand. China’s one-year government bond yield fell to around 1.2%, against about 4.46% in the U.S.

“The opportunity cost of holding gold is also much lower in China than in many Western markets,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

Adding to the momentum of the unprecedented buying is Beijing’s plan to build a deeper domestic gold market, prompting it to replenish inventories, said Menke. He estimated that the central bank bought around 190 tonnes this year by end-August, including 110 tonnes that were unreported.

Gold cushion

China’s demand for gold has helped bullion withstand pressures that would have caused a deeper fall in prices, as buoyant U.S. yields kept a lid on demand for the non-yielding precious metal. The price of gold usually goes down when interest rates go up.

“Chinese buying has become an important source of structural support for gold prices,” Ewa Manthey, commodities strategist at ING Bank. Central banks buy for the long term and are far less sensitive to price than retail investors, Manthey added.

Echoing that view, Carsten pointed out that gold prices have stayed above their levels in summer, even though interest rate expectations and bond yields have risen more sharply. The Federal Reserve has indicated another interest rate hike on the cards for 2026.

The world’s fifth-largest gold holder owned 2,387 tonnes as of August, according to the World Gold Council, less than a third of the that held by the U.S.

Any renewed confidence in China’s property and equities could blunt demand for gold, as well as a weaker yuan that makes gold pricier at home or higher interest rates that make deposits more attractive, Hansen said.

The larger shift would come if central banks lost interest in diversifying reserves and geopolitical tensions eased, Hansen said, adding that “neither appears particularly imminent.”