CEO Antonio Neri On HPE’s Supercomputing ChatGPT Advantage, Axis Security And GreenLake Momentum

HPE Is Set To Capitalize On ChatGPT Frenzy

Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s AI supercomputing prowess is proving to be a game-changer for companies looking to implement natural language AI models like ChatGPT, HPE President and CEO Antonio Neri told CRN.

“This is one of those things that happens every so often in the history of the company where a unique inflection point intersects unique innovation you have in the company,” Neri said.

In fact, HPE is already seeing a large pipeline of customers looking for help in leveraging large natural language AI models in a Supercomputing-Platform-as-a-Service model.

What’s more, HPE is already working with Aleph Alpha, which owns and operates Europe’s largest high-performance AI cluster, on AI-based natural language models.

“That pipeline of customers and verticals that are looking for supercompute capacity as a cloud consumption model is very, very strong, and we are uniquely positioned for that,” said Neri.

HPE’s $1.3 billion acquisition of Cray Supercomputer four years ago—which was driven by Neri—has set HPE up to capitalize on the ChatGPT frenzy. Furthermore, one of the public cloud providers looking for a natural language AI edge is already using HPE Cray systems. “We understood AI was going to change the world,” said Neri.

HPE is looking at providing a “cloud supercomputing IaaS [Infrastructure-as-a-Service] layer with a Platform as a Service” that opens the door for developers to deploy large natural language models at scale, said Neri.

HPE plans to provide more details around its cloud Supercomputing-as-a-Service offering in subsequent quarters, said Neri.

“We are very well positioned, and we have a very large pipeline of customers,” said Neri. “Last week I was in Europe and I was amazed to see the large pipeline of customers demanding this.”

HPE’s ambitious AI Supercomputing-as-a-Service charge comes after the company delivered better-than-expected record-setting results for its first fiscal quarter ended Jan. 31.

HPE posted non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share of 63 cents in the first quarter, a new quarterly record for the company. That was up 19 percent from the year-ago period and exceeded guidance of 50 cents to 58 cents per share.

HPE also reported revenue of $7.8 billion for the quarter, up 12 percent from the prior-year period, the highest first-quarter performance in six years.

The strong performance resulted in HPE raising estimates for Fiscal 2023, with revenue growth of 5 percent to 7 percent adjusted for currency. That is twice the prior revenue guidance from HPE.

HPE also raised its non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share to 2.02 to $2.10 cents per share, up from $1.96 to $2.04.

“Our customers have responded to the hybrid cloud value proposition we uniquely provide as they seek better ways to drive value from data from edge to cloud,” said Neri. “We are attracting more customers and executing with discipline. As we look forward, we remain laser-focused on executing our winning strategy, which is delivering unmatched innovation and significant results for our customers and shareholders. We are confident in our strategy and execution for the long term.”

Here are Neri’s comments on ChatGPT, the Axis Security acquisition and GreenLake on- premises edge-to-cloud platform pay-per-use momentum.