Intel CEO Chen Liwu shared his reform strategies and future plans in a recent podcast interview, 14 months into his tenure leading the semiconductor giant. Chen discussed his rationale for taking on the challenging role, stating Intel is an iconic company critically important to the industry ecosystem and the United States, and he wanted to undertake another major challenge after his success at Cadence. He outlined cultural transformations including eliminating bureaucratic layers, establishing clear accountability mechanisms, and transitioning Intel from a spreadsheet-dependent company to an AI-enabled enterprise across all functions. Chen's leadership comes as Intel pursues an ambitious turnaround strategy spanning product development, foundry operations, and advanced packaging technologies.
Chen Liwu Cites Two Core Reasons for Joining Intel
Chen Liwu explained his decision to join Intel despite advice from many to retire. He stated two core reasons drove his decision: "One is this is an iconic company, extremely important to the entire semiconductor ecosystem and the United States; two is after Cadence, I decided to do another big thing." He stated his core motivation for taking the job is "to save Intel."
Chen faced an early crisis when President Trump requested his resignation citing conflict of interest concerns. Chen recalled the incident: "I first convinced myself: I don't need this job, I'm doing this purely to save Intel." He subsequently conducted two meetings with President Trump, sharing his background of being born in Malaysia, growing up in Singapore, graduating from MIT, and settling long-term in the United States, ultimately securing the opportunity to continue in his role.
Intel Implements Cultural Reforms Under Chen's Leadership
Chen described comprehensive changes implemented over 14 months using a "crawl-walk-run" framework. He stated the first priority is changing culture and establishing clear accountability mechanisms to accelerate decision-making speed. "I'm used to the pace of startups, where everything moves at light speed, but Intel has layer after layer of bureaucratic meeting systems, which I must change," Chen stated.
Chen outlined several key initiatives: requiring all engineering teams to report directly to him to maintain direct access to frontline technical issues; personally completing all talent recruitment without using headhunters; driving enterprise-wide AI adoption to eliminate reliance on spreadsheet-based legacy management; and adjusting team age structure by simultaneously bringing in senior technical experts and young AI talent. He stated Intel is transitioning from an old-school spreadsheet-dependent company to an AI-enabled enterprise across the entire organization, not just in design.
Intel Pursues Foundry Business with 2030-2032 Potential Timeline
Chen stated that when he took over Intel, external opinions on the foundry business were divided, with some suggesting exit due to cost concerns. He ultimately determined foundry is extremely important to the United States and the industry. "We've all experienced supply chain challenges. Any major semiconductor company must seriously consider supply chain issues, must have a robust and resilient supply chain, and cannot completely rely on one or two geographically concentrated suppliers. More and more people will realize that manufacturing on U.S. soil is critically important," Chen stated.
Chen disclosed Intel's most advanced process, 18A, is at the 1.4-nanometer level, with 1-nanometer and 0.7-nanometer already in planning. He acknowledged the significant gap with TSMC in foundry operations, stating Intel must remain humble and focus on building fundamentals including IP, yield, defect density, and cycle time to make foundry more efficient and reliable. "This is a business of trust. Customers must trust you before handing over wafers. These things take longer, but I believe by 2030 to 2032, people will begin to see how great Intel's true potential is," Chen stated.
Chen revealed Intel's collaboration with Elon Musk on the Terafab project stems from a shared assessment that semiconductor infrastructure development lags behind AI demand growth in capacity, production efficiency, and power efficiency. Under this cooperation framework, Musk decided to build his own fab, with Intel providing technical and process support to accelerate production. Chen stated he holds weekly meetings with Musk's team and collaboration is progressing smoothly.
Intel Advances Packaging Technology and Invests in Three Material Areas
Chen addressed discussions about physical limits of chip scaling and line width constraints. He stated this path will become increasingly expensive and difficult, requiring industry partners to jointly advance yield and performance improvements.
Chen specifically highlighted advanced packaging and materials as solutions to chip physical limits. He stated TSMC has CoWoS, while Intel has a next-generation solution called EMIB, emphasizing the need to ensure it achieves customer-required yields in mass production.
Chen stated that when traditional scaling encounters bottlenecks, the industry returns to the materials level for breakthroughs. He disclosed investments in three directions: gallium nitride, silicon carbide, and indium phosphide. For packaging materials, he is focusing on glass as an excellent heat-dissipating insulating material, having invested in a company called 3DGS. Chen also revealed Intel holds approximately 1000 patents in modules, with substrate and module integration being an important topic. Intel recently announced advanced packaging manufacturing partnership projects in India and New Mexico. Additionally, Chen is monitoring synthetic diamonds as another excellent insulating material, having invested in a diamond wafer company.
Chen Targets 10x Return Over 5-10 Years at Intel
Chen stated the PC client segment is Intel's fundamental base, but Intel is extending toward the edge, toward physical AI and agent AI. "In the past you only provided servers and PCs to humans, but now there's another entirely new dimension—millions of agents need to access computing power, need to access software stacks. I believe Intel has opportunities in both agent AI and physical AI directions. This game is not over," Chen stated.
As a successful long-term investor, Chen stated venture capital and entrepreneurship are in his blood and he enjoys it greatly. He disclosed investments in 159 company IPOs and 126 M&A exits, with over 200 semiconductor investments, 38% in the United States.
Regarding Intel's long-term goals, Chen stated his venture capital instinct is to seek 10x return opportunities. At Cadence, he progressed from acting CEO to retirement, with stock price rising from $2.4 to deliver approximately 76x returns to shareholders; upon completing his executive chairman term, approximately 85x. Intel's scale is larger and harder to replicate, but his goal is 10x—achieving 10x returns within 5 to 10 years. "As someone who is a VC in my bones, this is my goal," Chen stated.
FAQ
What is Intel's foundry strategy timeline under Chen Liwu?
Chen Liwu stated Intel is focusing on building foundry fundamentals including IP, yield, defect density, and cycle time. He acknowledged a significant gap with TSMC and emphasized the need for humility. Chen stated that by 2030 to 2032, people will begin to see Intel's true potential in foundry operations. Intel's most advanced process, 18A, is at 1.4-nanometer level, with 1-nanometer and 0.7-nanometer already in planning.
Which three material areas is Intel investing in for advanced semiconductors?
Chen Liwu disclosed Intel is investing in three material directions to address chip scaling bottlenecks: gallium nitride, silicon carbide, and indium phosphide. Additionally, for packaging materials, Chen is focusing on glass substrates, having invested in a company called 3DGS. He is also monitoring synthetic diamond wafers as an insulating material, having invested in a diamond wafer company. Intel holds approximately 1000 patents in module integration.
