Image: Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan

Something momentous is happening at Intel. With a frank, no-nonsense letter hot off the press after the company’s surprising Q2 2025 results, CEO Lip-Bu Tan has thrown down the gauntlet: the era of business as usual is over. If you’re invested in the future of chips, tech, or just love a good corporate drama, you’ll want to pay attention.

A Quarter Full of Surprises

Intel didn’t just meet expectations this quarter—it smashed them. Revenues soared past the high end of the guidance, surprising even seasoned analysts. But it’s what’s happening behind the numbers that really signals a new dawn.
  • Massive headcount cuts: Intel’s workforce will shrink to about 75,000, a bold move intended to realign the company for growth rather than bloat.
  • A flatter org chart: With 50% fewer management layers, Intel aims to slice through bureaucracy and put decision-making where it belongs—closer to the action.
  • Mandatory return to office: If coffee-shop Zoom calls became the norm at Intel, those days are numbered. Sites will be buzzing again by September, whether employees are ready or not.

Three Pillars of Change

Lip-Bu turned the microscope inward and found three critical targets needing immediate overhaul.

1. A Disciplined Foundry

Intel’s foundry business—previously the poster child for costly overreach—is getting a tough love intervention.

“Too much, too soon,” admits the CEO. Translation? No more expansion without real, signed customer deals. Projects in Germany and Poland? Canceled. Costa Rica’s assembly lines? Headed to Asia. Even the hyped Ohio facility is hitting the brakes until the market says “go.”

The focus: Build what customers are actually paying for, with particular attention to Intel’s 18A process and the forthcoming Panther Lake chip.

2. x86: Back to Basics, Aiming for the Top

The core x86 business isn’t being neglected, either. Instead, it’s getting the attention only a CEO desperate to reclaim lost glory can provide.
  • New notebook hero: All eyes are on Panther Lake to take the mobile PC fight to rivals.
  • Server resurgence: Granite Rapids is leading the comeback, and for the tech geeks out there—simultaneous multi-threading (SMT) makes its grand return.
  • Hands-on leadership: No big chip ships without the CEO’s personal sign-off. That’s accountability, rare in a company this size.

3. Reimagined AI Ambitions

Intel’s previous all-in bets on training-centric, brute-force AI are being replaced by a targeted play into inference and “agentic” AI—think specialized, on-device computing. The goal: deliver solutions where Intel can truly shine, rather than trying to fight everyone, everywhere, at once.

Why It Matters

This is not just an earnings report or an internal memo: it’s a public admission and a roadmap for recovery. Intel is cutting deep, both in people and pet projects, to rediscover what made it great—speed, discipline, and focus.

For the industry, Intel’s pain could ripple. Halting ambitious European plans and slowing US expansion may cool the global chip race, but for Intel, it’s a signal of strategic maturity, not retreat.

For the employees and investors, the next year will be a nail-biter. But if Lip-Bu’s audacious bets pay off, Intel may just stage the comeback story of the decade.

Stay tuned. The next chapters could be even more dramatic.