Intel to lay off 15% of workers, cancel billions in projects in bid for rebound

Intel will cut 15% of its workforce and scrap plans to spend tens of billions of dollars on new chip facilities in Europe, as it takes steps to revive its sagging fortunes.

- Robbie Whelan

The chip-making giant said Thursday it would refocus its strategy on the highly competitive market for AI chips, regaining market share in personal-computer processors and developing its advanced 14A technology to sell to large customers.

Intel, which has long dominated the business of making chips for laptops and desktop computers, fell far behind competitors such as Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. after it failed to anticipate the surge in demand for the powerful chips fueling the artificial-intelligence boom. "There are no more blank checks," Intel Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan wrote in a memo to staff. "Every investment must make economic sense."

Shares fell in after-hours trading. Revenue in the June quarter was roughly flat at $12.9 billion, beating Wall Street expectations, the company said.

The results

Most of the layoffs, which began in the first few weeks of the current quarter, targeted middle management, the company said. Intel is targeting a total head count of 75,000 by the end of the year.