The S4GEO Podcast - Applied Geopolitics for Today's Challenges

Artificial intelligence is driving extraordinary demand for advanced semiconductors, AI infrastructure and data-center capacity, while the semiconductor industry has not expanded quickly enough to meet that demand. As the U.S. and China compete for leadership in AI, control of advanced chips, semiconductor supply chains and data centers is becoming increasingly important to technological advantage and national power. In this episode of the S4GEO Podcast, S4GEO Board Chair Rodger Baker speaks with semiconductor and technology veterans Michael Hochberg and Marcus Gomez about the geopolitics of AI, U.S.-China competition, TSMC and Taiwan’s semiconductor ecosystem, AI infrastructure and the constraints shaping the global AI race. All of this is giving AI infrastructure new strategic significance. Data centers are becoming important enough to national power that they can be viewed as wartime infrastructure and potential military targets. As Marcus Gomez puts it: “One of the things to pay attention to is which countries and which nation states decide to prioritize compute as a strategic resource.... I think the people who hoard compute are probably going to have a material advantage. I mean, look, they’re bombing data centers already.” Michael Hochberg is President and Founder of Periplous and a physicist, entrepreneur and semiconductor industry executive. He has co-founded five semiconductor companies, including Luxtera and Elenion, and previously served as CTO of Optical Subsystems at Nokia. Marcus Gomez is a technology entrepreneur, co-founder and former CEO of Luminous Computing, and advisor to large venture-capital funds. His current project is in stealth. His work spans artificial intelligence, AI hardware, computing infrastructure and semiconductor technology.

In this episode of The S4GEO Podcast, titled "Geopolitical Insurance: Are You Covered?", Rodger Baker engages with industry experts Dominic Donald and Guy Moffitt to explore the crucial intersection of geopolitical risk and insurance. As we navigate the current conflicts impacting global trade, particularly in the Middle East, we discuss how businesses can assess their insurance coverage, especially in light of war exclusions that could leave them vulnerable. The conversation delves into the unique challenges faced by companies reliant on international supply chains and the importance of understanding contingent exposures. By unpacking the role of insurance in enabling and protecting business continuity amidst geopolitical tensions, this episode provides vital insights for organizations aiming to navigate today’s complex landscape effectively. Dominick Donald has spent 25 years helping corporations, governments, the media and multinational organizations understand the implications of global and regional developments. This has included being an advisor to the Joint War risks Committee of the Lloyds insurance market for two decades advising financial institutions on how to anticipate future events, and how markets will respond to them helping to devise Afghanistan economic reconstruction strategy for the US Department of Defense and working on social rehabilitation of former combatants in Sierra Leone, Mozambique and the DRC, for the UN. He has a Modern History MA from Magdalen College Oxford and a War Studies PhD from King’s College London, and his analysis has appeared in publications ranging from UN Security Council resolutions to The Times. Guy J Moffitt, Vice President, Property & Casualty with a specialization in the Legal Profession. Mr. Moffitt has nearly 40 years experience assisting law firms with issues, claims and risk management attendant to Professional Liability Insurance. In addition, he has a wide range of expertise working with large law firms to solve the many other risk and contractual issues they face as part of their business and professional activities. Mr. Moffitt has been with USI, based in its Florham Park, NJ office, since 2018 when USI acquired the insurance operations of Wells Fargo. Prior to 2018 he had been employed by Wells Fargo and its predecessors since 2005. Before 2004 he was employed by Aon and various predecessor companies since entering the insurance business in 1981. Mr. Moffitt has a Bachelor’s Degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. Born in Adelaide, South Australia, he has lived continuously in the US since the late 1970s and now lives with his wife and their two dogs in the lower Hudson Valley.