August 25, 2025

Once upon a time, Intel was the pride of Silicon Valley. This tiny chip company helped spark the personal computer revolution and made the microchip a household hero. Back in the day, engineers walked its campuses with pride, inspired by Andy Grove, Intel’s third employee and legendary leader. His motto “Only the paranoid survive” pushed Intel to dominate the chip world for decades. But all fairy tales face twists. After Grove left, Intel started missing the big waves—the smartphone boom and the AI explosion. Its chip making slowed, rivals raced ahead, and things got rocky. Then came a twist: The U.S. government stepped in with a whopping $8.9 billion stake in Intel, the biggest since the 2008 crisis. Intel’s story is a classic Silicon Valley tale. Visionary founders build giants, but when they exit, many giants stumble. Tech giants now stand on old battlegrounds of former leaders like Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems. Intel stayed on top for years thanks to its strong founders and early stars, but even it couldn’t outrun Silicon Valley's fast pace. David Yoffie, who was on Intel’s board for almost 30 years, said, “Where they are today is something that Andy always feared... He feared government intervention. He feared complacency. He feared incrementalism. And all of his worst fears have been realized.” Intel’s journey started in 1968 when pioneers Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore left Fairchild Semiconductor to start fresh. They brought Andy Grove along, and soon the company made chips that sparked the personal computer boom. Their 8080 microprocessor became a hit, used by IBM and Microsoft’s Windows, creating the “Wintel era.” For a while, Intel was everywhere, with “Intel Inside” stickers on nearly every computer. But cracks appeared. In 2005, CEO Paul Otellini said no to making iPhone chips, thinking Apple’s price was too low—a decision he later called a regret. Intel did well for a while, growing from $34 billion to $53 billion in revenue by 2013, thanks to cloud computing. However, Intel’s troubles deepened. They tried to build new chip types, like graphics processing units (GPUs), but failed and gave up. CEO Brian Krzanich poured money into mobile chips but struggled, eventually selling the tech to Apple. Intel also fell behind rivals like Taiwan Semiconductor and Samsung in making chips. In 2021, Intel’s former executive Pat Gelsinger returned with a big plan to bring back Intel’s glory, investing over $100 billion and winning help from the Biden administration’s CHIPS Act, which put $50 billion into American chipmaking. But as Intel bet big on manufacturing, AI and GPUs exploded in demand. Nvidia, a major GPU maker, zoomed ahead, especially after AI star OpenAI used GPUs for ChatGPT. Intel’s sales dropped, costs climbed, and leadership changed again. Then came the big government move in late 2023: Intel got nearly $8 billion from the CHIPS Act, but in exchange gave the U.S. government a 10% stake. Trump even called for the resignation of Intel’s new CEO Lip-Bu Tan over his ties to China. Intel spokesperson Cory Pforzheimer said, “Tan has moved quickly to shape a new Intel and advance America's leadership in technology and manufacturing. We welcome the U.S. government's continued investment and recognition of Intel's critical role in achieving these national priorities.” Meanwhile, Nvidia soared to a $4.3 trillion value, while Intel, once towering over Nvidia, sits at about $108 billion. The story of Intel is a thrilling mix of rise, fall, and hope—a reminder that even giants must keep running in the fast lane or risk being left behind.

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Tags: Intel, Semiconductors, Chips act, Andy grove, Chip manufacturing, Ai revolution,