On June 2, 2026, Intel's CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, addressed the Computex technology exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan.
When Tan took the helm at Intel in March 2025, the company was in dire need of a turnaround. For years, the Silicon Valley semiconductor pioneer had been losing ground in chip manufacturing, with its market share steadily being eroded by competitors like NVIDIA, AMD, and Qualcomm. Meanwhile, TSMC secured roughly 90% of the global market for advanced process chips, leaving Intel's own foundry business with little room to compete.
In his first public earnings remarks in April 2025, Tan did not shy away from the company's deep-seated challenges. He stated, "Many parts of the company require optimization, and there is no single, quick-fix solution."
The 66-year-old, Malaysian-born executive, who previously led Cadence Design Systems for over a decade, has maintained a low profile since joining Intel. Last week, he delivered a keynote at the packed Computex event, which saw unprecedented attendance due to the artificial intelligence frenzy, as attendees gathered to hear his insights.
The audience was primarily interested in learning more about Intel's core product, the central processing unit (CPU), often described as the "brain" of a computer. For decades, CPUs have been the essential hardware at the heart of laptops and servers.
Now, CPUs have become critical hardware in the AI race, garnering renewed market attention and presenting a fresh opportunity for Intel's recovery.
Dan Nystedt, Vice President of the Asian private equity firm TriOrient, told CNN, "A rebound in the CPU market could save Intel, as the vast majority of its revenue depends on this business."
Intel responded to CNN, stating that Tan's current focus is on execution and recentering all business operations around customer needs. The company said, "With an improved balance sheet, a refreshed management team, and a renewed commitment to engineering discipline, Intel is positioned to capture the growth opportunities driven by AI."
A Major Opportunity Emerges
The rise of agentic AI—a new generation of AI that can perform entire tasks autonomously rather than just answering questions—has unexpectedly boosted Intel's revival plan.
While the graphics processing units (GPUs) pioneered by NVIDIA are optimal for training large AI models, demand for CPUs is surging as they are better suited for the inference phase, where trained AI models are put into practical operation. Companies like OpenAI, Isobar, and Google are developing and deploying this new generation of AI agents, with inference computing power being central to their operation.
OpenClaw is one popular AI agent that can independently operate applications, web browsers, and smart home devices based on user instructions sent via messaging apps like WhatsApp.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, in his own Computex keynote this week, noted, "Today, the CPU is like the orchestra conductor, and the GPUs are the orchestra players." NVIDIA is heavily investing in the CPU space at the show, launching new processors for desktops and laptops and announcing that its data center CPU, Vera, has entered full-scale production.
In a media interview during Computex, Tan revealed that over the past month, numerous corporate CEOs had reached out to him seeking to purchase more Intel CPUs.
"This is a huge opportunity for us, and we are very excited about it," Tan said.
Analysts suggest that with CPU demand expected to remain strong for years, Intel could see significant revenue growth if it can rapidly scale production and maintain strict manufacturing quality.
Tan added, "We are fully committed to ensuring supply capacity and striving to deliver a satisfactory experience for our customers."
The Road to Revival and Reform
The reform strategy Tan is implementing at Intel largely mirrors his approach at Cadence: streamlining operations, heavily investing in research and development, expanding through strategic acquisitions, and forging deeper ties with customers.
He reduced the workforce by approximately 34%, halted expansion plans for wafer fabrication plants in Germany and Poland, flattened corporate hierarchy, brought in external top talent, established new partnership ecosystems, and divested non-core assets to refocus Intel on its core mission of chip design and manufacturing.
In his Computex keynote, Tan stated, "Intel is fundamentally an engineering company. That has been clear since my first day, with all R&D teams reporting directly to me."
He elevated the influence of R&D engineers while reducing middle management to directly oversee chip and AI businesses; sold a controlling stake in a subsidiary for liquidity; recruited executives from Qualcomm and Arm to lead data center and AI divisions; and secured strategic investments from NVIDIA and SoftBank, gaining financial and ecosystem support from leading AI industry players.
TrendForce analyst Joanne Chiao told CNN, "Tan continues to bring in external resources, buying Intel time to adjust its chip processes, expand its customer base, and ramp up production capacity."
Furthermore, Intel has received support from the U.S. government under the Trump administration.
This past August, the U.S. government invested nearly $9 billion in Intel for an approximate 10% stake, supporting the expansion of domestic R&D and manufacturing facilities and securing the domestic supply chain for advanced chips on national security grounds. Since this investment, Intel's stock price has risen by roughly 300%.
This investment agreement is a key part of U.S. efforts to advance domestic semiconductor manufacturing and maintain its leading position in the global chip industry, a core policy during Trump's second term.
However, analysts note that Intel still faces significant challenges, particularly in its foundry business, where it struggles to attract new customers and improve yield rates and production quality.
Even so, for a company that has been mired in decline for years, the current improvements are hard-won.
Chiao commented, "Tan has stopped the company's continuous bleeding. He has moved Intel from the intensive care unit to a regular hospital room, gradually moving it out of critical condition."
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