Lip-Bu Tan Nearly Walked Away From Semiconductors, But One Plea to ‘Save Intel’ Pulled Him Back as CEO, Now Hiring Top CPU/GPU Architects

Intel CEO, Lip-Bu Tan was about to retire from the semiconductor industry, but was asked to do one more thing: save Intel.

Lip-Bu Tan was on the Intel Candidate List Back in 2021, But Made The Final Decision To Become CEO After Being Convninced By His Wife & Friends

Ever since Lip-Bu Tan joined Intel as CEO, we have seen some radical changes in the structuring of the company. Lip-Bu has turned Intel around. Most of the groundwork was laid by Intel's former CEO, Pat Gelsinger, who set the company's Foundry plans and current product line, but Lip-Bu is creating a new Intel, one which should be known for its semiconductor progress & dialling things up to the next level in the Foundry business, while creating leading products for themselves, and for external customers.

So far, we have only seen a glimpse of what this new Intel can do under Lip-Bu Tan. In a recent podcast, "The Long View" with Eric Veiel, Intel's CEO discussed the company's next chapter, AI infrastructure, supply chain resiliency, and the future of compute. He recalled his personal journey and his semiconductor/technology footsteps.

Lip-Bu Tan joined Intel as CEO in 2025, but he was offered the position earlier in 2021. He said that he always saw Intel as the role model for a successful semiconductor company, but it was saddening for him to see the state in which Intel was for the past several years. The company is important to the United States, and it was spiralling down into a place of no return. Joining Intel was not an easy decision, and the majority of Lip-Bu's friends in the industry asked him to refrain from joining the company as there was "no guarantee of success". Also, Lip-Bu had already turned Cadence Design into a success, and that should've been enough.

However, Lip-Bu recalls one of his close friends, who also happens to be his customer, told him that Intel is an iconic company that is important not only for the industry, but for the country (United States) too. He asked Lip-Bu that before he retired, he should save Intel.

Yeah, good news is that two years on the board. And also before that, when I came from school, Intel is a role model for successful semiconductor company in terms of gross margin, in terms of paranoid survival. Those things that I care a lot and a lot of admirations. So it's kind of sad to see that the company is kind of spiralled down. And meanwhile, it's an iconic company. And then it's so important for the industry and also for the United States. So when they asked me to step in to be a CEO, it's not an easy decision. Couple of very good friends of mine in the industry, they are CEO somewhere, and also some top executive. 80% of people I talked to, they told me, don't do it. Don't do it. First of all, no guarantee of success. Secondly, you have so much success in building company. You turn around, Cadence Design, you don't need another one. People know that you're good. And people only remember the last one. So if you screwed up, you're gonna be failure for the rest of your life. So it's quite compelling.

And then, but there's one friend of mine, he told me that Lip Bu, he sent me a very nice, thoughtful, he from Seattle. A good friend of mine, he's a good customer. He said, Lip-Bu, with all your success, this is iconic company. This is so important for industry and for country. Before you retire, save Intel. That touched my heart.

Lip-Bu Tan - Intel CEO

That was the spark that ignited Lip-Bu Tan to head Intel. He also mentions that he was among the two final candidates back in 2021 to join Intel as CEO, but he didn't take the job because, at the time, he had made a promise to the now CEO of Cadence, Anirudh Devgan, that he wouldn't make the move till Anirudh became CEO.

But the other push came from Lip-Bu's wife, who supported him, and that is what ultimately led him to join Intel as acting CEO.

And then the other part is, five years ago, I was one of the final candidates, two final candidates. That time I decided not to take it because I did promise Anirudh, my successor at Cadence, I will stay on until he became a CEO. And so timing is not right. 

So I pass. And then, but this time, my wife even supported. And last one, she said no. And for very good reason, for family. And then this time, at home, she's the boss.Yeah, yeah. We managed for 44 years. And she said that, this time, I think your heart is already in. I can see you emotionally so upset about some of the thing happen. You may start doing it. I will support you. So that mean a lot to me. So I think I decided to jump in. And then that's my beginning of the Intel journey.

Lip-Bu Tan - Intel CEO

Intel acknowledges the success that NVIDIA and AMD have found. These two companies saw the space being made for them and are now leading in the GPU and CPU space. Intel is now heading to retake its lost market share, but at the same time, Lip-Bu appreciates and respects AMD's CEO, Dr Lisa Su.

He says that Lisa is a very good friend, and recalls the time when she asked Lip-Bu if she should take the job at AMD. It looks like Lisa Su was influenced in some way by talking to Lip-Bu, and now, even Lisa Su has turned AMD into a massive success. Lisa went on to turn around AMD, similarly to what Lip-Bu Tan is doing with Intel now.

So first of all, I think clearly AMD is very well respected. Lisa is a very good friend of mine, and I'm delighted that she's doing very well. I still remember she come to me and said, Lip-Bu, should I take this job? And I told her that your market cap cannot be lower than Umbrella, that I'm a chairman. And you've got to be higher than that. And she's done a fabulous job on that.

Lip-Bu Tan - Intel CEO

The podcast then shifted to Intel's own business and Foundry ventures. Lip-Bu kind of hints that ARM wants to use Intel Foundry in some way to build its own chips, not limited to IP licensing. We know that Arm has its own AGI CPU that is said to gain some major traction, & the company has also laid out a forward-looking roadmap. So we can see in a few years that Arm could be using Intel process technology to develop its own CPUs.

But it doesn't stop at just Arm, with the recent TeraFab and Apple deals, and more customers on the list, the Foundry business is gaining major traction, and the reason for that is Intel's capability to do both advanced process technologies and advanced packaging technologies under one hood with its EMIB, Foveros, and 18A-P/14A nodes.

Then, of course, the other part is ARM. NVIDIA is based on ARM. And even ARM themselves, they want to, not just IP licensing, they also try to build the CPU products. So now I decided to build within Intel to do that. So it's something that purpose-built Silicon GPU and also some of this connectivity, purpose-built Silicon based on different workload, that would be the future for Intel for growth. And so different applications, different types of CPU, you need to do surgical so that you can really optimise for different workloads.

Lip-Bu Tan - Intel CEO

Lastly, Lip-Bu Tan mentions that they have hired a top GPU architect to work on their next-gen GPUs for Agentic AI. The company is already aiming to get one or two "top-notch" CPU architects to accelerate its AI roadmap.

Next year, Intel will be launching its Crescent Island GPU based on the Xe3P architecture, while Jaguar Shores takes shape. These are just one of the first major AI-centred GPUs that will roll out under Lip-Bu Tan's leadership, but it's kind of great to hear that Intel is focused on GPUs too, while their datacenter CPUs are being cooked to tackle NVIDIA, AMD and others in the Agentic AI race.

And the other part, we have the CPU. Now I am quietly building my GPU. I hired the top GPU architect. And I'm also going to get one or two top-notch CPU architects so that I can build the different workloads for different agentic AI. And then, so I think that part, stay tuned. That's where my growth engine gonna be. And then I have the CPU, GPU.

I have the advanced packaging and the most advanced packaging. I had the coming up really strong on the process foundry. So then I have the supply chain. I can build a purpose-built in a different application right now, I'm going after, the vertical market I'm going after. So I think, stay tuned, that will be my future growth. So then I have the supply chain. I can build a purpose-built in a different application right now, I'm going after, the vertical market I'm going after. So I think, stay tuned, that will be my future growth.

Lip-Bu Tan - Intel CEO

Lip-Bu is reshaping Intel into a more agile, customer-focused powerhouse. With renewed emphasis on world-class process technology, advanced packaging, purpose-built AI silicon, and a thriving foundry business, he is steering the company toward leadership not just in its own products, but as a vital partner for the industry.

Under his quiet determination and long-term vision, Intel is regaining its confidence, one strategic move, one top-tier hire, and one innovative node at a time. The best chapters of this turnaround are still being written, but the spark has clearly been lit. Intel’s next era is here, & it looks promising.

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