“Our Targets Haven’t Changed”: Broadcom’s CEO Pushes Back on the AI Slowdown Scare

When Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote a weekend essay proposing that the AI industry should deliberately restrict its pace of progress, few companies were more dependent on the market's reaction than Broadcom. Anthropic is more than just a name in the conversation for Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO ), it's poised to become the chipmaker's single largest custom silicon customer. AVGO shares fell 4.8% on September 14 as the broader semiconductor industry sold off, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF down 5.6%. On that same day, CEO Hock Tan told CNBC's "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer that the company's long-term AI revenue projections had not changed.

On Broadcom's fiscal third-quarter results call on September 2, Tan forecasted that AI semiconductor revenue will rise to $115 billion in fiscal 2027, then double to $230 billion in fiscal 2028. He stated at the time that Anthropic is on track to become Broadcom's largest custom chip customer in 2027 and keep that position through 2028, with plans to deploy 5 gigawatts of Broadcom's next-generation TPU v8i chips in 2027 and a clear path to another 10 gigawatts in 2028.

This isn't the first time Tan's public statements have caused a significant move in Broadcom's shares, and the history is mixed. Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) reported a strong quarter in June, with record revenue and triple-digit AI sales, but shares fell more than 12% in a single session, the steepest one-day drop in over a year, after Tan reaffirmed rather than raised the company's existing $100 billion AI semiconductor target, disappointing investors who had expected an increase. By September's third-quarter call, Tan had completely reversed the pattern, raising the fiscal 2027 target to $115 billion while also adding a new $230 billion figure for fiscal 2028, a reminder that Broadcom's stock has proven highly sensitive to the gap between what Tan says and what investors were already expecting, in either direction.

Hedge fund ownership in Broadcom fell slightly, from 173 in the first quarter to 170 in the second, with short interest at a low 1.08% of the float, indicating limited downside sentiment against the company despite the recent AI-slowdown-driven volatility.

Hock Tan's $230 Billion Target Is Locked In

Tan's public confidence is based on already-guided numbers rather than vague reassurance: a $115 billion fiscal 2027 target and a $230 billion fiscal 2028 target that were only set two weeks before Amodei's essay, as well as an increased full-year AI revenue guide and 221% year-over-year growth rates that are already visible in reported results. Anthropic's own committed deployment plans, 5 gigawatts in 2027 with a path to 10 more in 2028, provide meaningful demand visibility rather than representing purely aspirational goals, offering Broadcom visibility into demand independent of how the broader AI-pacing issue unfolds.