Intel’s New CEO Lip-Bu Tan Would Now Directly Handle The AI Business; Makes Financial Turnaround a Priority

Apr 18, 2025 at 10:06am EDT

Intel's CEO Lip-Bu Tan has revealed a restructuring in the company's semiconductor leadership, declaring a new "AI chief" position to strengthen the segment's business.

Intel's CEO Restructures The AI Division By Bringing In New Positions, In an Attempt To Give Team Blue a Hold Over The Markets

Well, Team Blue needs to make dire decisions right now since the company's divisions are reporting sub-par performance, whether in the foundry division or the CPU segment. After Intel's former CEO Pat Gelsinger's departure, his successor, Tan, announced that he would make tough decisions likely to have devastating impacts in the short term. In light of this, Reuters reports that Tan has now "flattened" the company's leadership, announcing that new positions and groups will now report directly to him.

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Intel's DC and AI divisions will now report directly to Tan, and this authority has been taken over by Intel's Products CEO, Michelle Johnston Holthaus. Additionally, Sachin Katti would now be the new chief technology officer and artificial intelligence chief. Here's how Intel's CEO communicated the decision to the internal team in a memo:

I want to roll up my sleeves with the engineering and product teams to learn what’s needed to strengthen our solutions. As Michelle and I drive this work, we plan to evolve and expand her role with more details to come in the future.

- Intel's Lip-Bu Tan

This move comes after Intel's AI business reported a much inferior performance relative to its competitors, mainly because the company didn't capitalize on the hype early on. To top it off, Intel failed to provide appealing AI solutions, and the company's Gaudi AI accelerators weren't seen as a viable alternative to either NVIDIA or AMD products. So, with Tan now handling the AI business directly, it seems like Team Blue is pursuing a turnaround.

We recently reported that the Trump administration imposed new export restrictions on Intel, which meant that the company couldn't export any of its new hardware to China. So, Team Blue is already in a restricted market. It will be interesting to see how Tan's leadership decides to turnaround Intel's AI venture, as the new CEO seems to plan to take decisive steps.

About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.

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