Lip-Bu Tan won Trump's trust, but Intel seeks a breakthrough in the AI market

Lip-Bu Tan took the helm at Intel in March of last year with a clear mission — to save one of the world's largest chipmakers and restore the company's status as a technology leader. His appointment was met with optimism — the new CEO promised a fresh approach and investments in innovation. But seven months later, Intel's stock has stalled, and the company continues to lag behind on the rapidly growing market for AI microchips.

How the new CEO won trust

Lip-Bu Tan is an experienced executive with a reputation as a pragmatist, accustomed to solving complex problems in engineering companies. During his time as CEO, he has attracted the attention of influential figures in politics and technology. Donald Trump and Elon Musk responded positively to his plan for Intel's revival with an emphasis on strengthening American dominance in the semiconductor industry. Tan spoke of the need to restore Intel's position as a global leader and proposed ambitious investments in building new factories and developing cutting-edge technologies. Political weight matters: the United States is interested in a strong local player instead of complete dependence on Asian manufacturers. This gives Intel an advantage in negotiations for government support and subsidies.

But the market demands more

Despite positive PR and political support, business metrics remain grim. Intel has lost significant market share amid surging demand for specialized AI microchips. Nvidia and AMD have captured key segments that traditionally belonged to Intel. The company's stock price reflects this reality: while the semiconductor market itself is growing, Intel is being left behind. The problem is that new capabilities require years, while investors demand results now. Wall Street does not trust promises — quarterly results and market share growth are needed.

• Nvidia has monopolized the GPU market for generative AI
• AMD has significantly increased its share in CPUs and specialized accelerators
• Demand for chips for LLM training and inference is growing exponentially
• Intel is losing ground in cloud computing — a key segment

What breakthrough Intel needs

Tan faces the classic dilemma of a capital-intensive business: investments require money that the company wants to spend carefully. The company needs a product that will immediately win the trust of key customers — cloud providers and major corporations building AI-based systems. This could be a specialized processor for LLM training or inference, an innovative technology process that offers an advantage over competitors, or a fundamentally new chip architecture. But no such announcements have been made yet. Tan promised change and gained political support. The question remains: will he be able to transform ambitions into real products before investors lose patience?

What this means

Intel is at a critical juncture. The trust of politicians and business leaders is valuable, but it does not automatically convert into sales in the market. The company needs to show that investments in its revival will pay off and restore Intel's position as one of the leading suppliers of chips for the AI ecosystem. The next two to three quarters will be decisive for the company's future.