Intel appoints former board member Lip-Bu Tan as new CEO

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After three months of meticulous search, Intel has finally appointed Lip-Bu Tan as its new CEO, a former board member who abruptly stepped down in August 2024. 

Intel fanatics should be aware of the details. However, if you are not—Tan, a Malaysian-born, joined Intel’s board in 2022 but abruptly left in August, reportedly due to conflicts with Intel’s previous CEO, Pat Gelsinger, who stepped down in December.

Tan is all set to take over the reins on Tuesday, March 18, and during Wednesday’s announcement, he said the following…

I am honored to join Intel as CEO. I have tremendous respect and admiration for this iconic company, and I see significant opportunities to remake our business in ways that serve our customers better and create value for our shareholders.

Tan is taking over the reins during one of the most tumultuous eras of Intel 

Intel was already going through some restructuring. The iconic chip manufacturer laid off 15% of its workforce, which is roughly 15,000 jobs, last August, and now, the hiring of Tan means there could be more shake-ups in the company’s future.

IT analyst Patrick Moorhead tweeted, “My expectation is that we will see a lot of cost cuts.” he also said that Tan needs to decide whether Intel stays in the exorbitant foundry business. 

Either way, Tan has his work cut out for him. Intel’s competitors, the big names in the chip industry—Apple, AMD, and Qualcomm- have already dipped into TSMC, producing state-of-the-art PC silicon.

While Intel has also harnessed TSMC’s tech for its own processors, the company is missing out on generative AI chip sales, where Nvidia is dominating. 

However, to start things up, Intel is betting big on the 18A chip-making process, which is scheduled to produce cutting-edge PC chips in the second half of 2025. 

Meanwhile, building up the foundry business won’t be easy for Intel. The company even pushed back its $28 billion factory in Ohio to 2030, whereas TSMC plans to invest $100 in the US to build three new factories in Arizona. 

The announcement also mentioned and thanked David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, the interim co-CEOs, for their steadfast leadership. They will stay as CFO and CEO of Intel Products, respectively.

What are your expectations from Intel? Do you think we’ll see progress now that there’s a new CEO? Tell us what you think below in the comments, or via our Twitter or Facebook.