OpenAI VP Richard Ho Talks Custom AI Hardware, Jalapeño ASIC, and the Future of Chip Design During Tom’s Hardware AI Chip Design Week

Over at Tom’s Hardware Premium, readers have been exploring a comprehensive series of stories centered around the publication’s themed AI Chip Design Week, an extensive initiative exploring how artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping the global semiconductor and chipmaking industries. To ensure that hardware enthusiasts, industry professionals, and everyday tech followers do not miss out on these deep dives, the publication has announced that it is extending free access to all articles in the series over the weekend, keeping them unlocked until Monday, October 5.

The centerpiece of this special reporting week is an exclusive, in-depth interview with Richard Ho, Vice President of Hardware at OpenAI. In the conversation, Ho discusses the intricate details of Jalapeño, the custom inference ASIC developed in collaboration with Broadcom that OpenAI officially debuted earlier this year at Hot Chips 2026. The interview explores a wide array of technical and strategic topics, shedding light on how the company integrated artificial intelligence directly into its internal chip design processes, how the hardware manages to outpace traditional competitors in power efficiency, and how the team worked to demystify prevalent industry misconceptions—such as the assumption that custom ASICs are strictly optimized to run OpenAI models exclusively.

For readers looking for a comprehensive understanding of modern semiconductor engineering, the published feature provides an unredacted, full-length transcript of the discussion with Ho. The session captures the nuanced realities of designing specialized silicon in an era where AI workloads demand unprecedented levels of performance and architectural innovation.

The timing of AI Chip Design Week aligns with a transformative period for the tech industry, where the traditional boundaries of semiconductor manufacturing, architecture, and software co-design are blurring. As artificial intelligence models grow exponentially in scale and complexity, off-the-shelf processors are increasingly facing bottlenecks in power, thermal management, and computational throughput. This has driven leading AI developers like OpenAI to take a hands-on approach to hardware development, partnering with industry giants like Broadcom to create bespoke silicon tailored precisely to their algorithmic needs.

Throughout the extended free access period, Tom’s Hardware Premium has aimed to break down these complex developments for its audience, offering granular reports that go beyond standard industry press releases. By granting open access through Monday, October 5, the publication provides a unique window into the minds of the engineers and executives who are steering the future of hardware development.

Readers interested in exploring the full unredacted transcript of the Richard Ho interview, alongside the broader collection of reports featured during AI Chip Design Week, can visit Tom’s Hardware Premium to access the content before the free viewing window closes.