What rigorous testing did he specifically ask for that wasn't planned?
I don't know, maybe you can infer those things from this statement "Our models are not just evaluated for performance. They are aligned with values like truth, human dignity, and faith. External audits? Absolutely. Guardrails? Required. Ethical alignment? Non-negotiable." so that "Last week Anthropic Claude Opus 4 blackmailing developers, this week ChatGPT o3 refusing to switch off" kind of stuff don't happen.
Not nonsense to me. Lack of winning strategies in datacenter AI and datacenter networking, dramatic over-hiring, ridiculously expensive voluntary retirement programs to reduce headcount (which usually caused the loss of the wrong people), overly-optimistic and bloated fab construction spending (especially in Ohio), non-obvious foundry strategy to win customers (especially uncompetitive PDKs), inefficient and bloated corporate org structure, played musical chairs repeatedly with his foundry top line staff more than once, and several times made a fool out of himself and the company in the industry press. PG lived up to my lowest expectations as CEO.
Lack of winning strategies in datacenter AI and datacenter networking - If anyone is unaware, at the end of 2022, when Gen AI started as a thing, Intel wasn't a AI GPU company, they were predominantly focused as CPU company making multi billion dollars by selling CPUs. Only thing they were able to muster up was AI PC with AI on the edge catalyst which may work out in the long run. CEO is not a magician, Intel still to this day does not have the tools to win any AI GPU revenue. Their DC GPU (PVC) for HPC was already a flop and their Xe architecture is only getting some maturity now. If anyone invested in Intel hoping for exploding AI GPU revenue, then they deserve to lose all their money. If Pat Gelsinger promised billions of AI revenue and misled investors, then he should apologize to investors (probably sued too).
dramatic over-hiring - Intel had to hire more people post COVID to help with increase in demand and also to support their 5N4Y. Also to make the external foundry initiative a reality, you need engineers right?. Stuff don't fall from sky into someone's lap. Companies don't hire people for no reason, Intel's peak revenue was in 2021. Refer below, It is only at end of 2022 end or beginning of 2023, Intel would realize their DC business is cooked by demand for AI and slow down hiring. If you had this foresight in 2022 or 2021, then honestly you deserve to have been the CEO of Intel. Hiring workforce and reducing workforce is okay when business cycle booms and busts, this is not a financial mismanagement. Why is Nvidia hiring more people now to service more demand? The same reason, but Intel got disrupted in DC and had a historically prolonged slow down in consumer PCs.
ridiculously expensive voluntary retirement programs to reduce headcount (which usually caused the loss of the wrong people) - I don't have a clear answer for this. On one hand, this is giving the senior Intel engineers who toiled most of their life at Intel a respectable way out (as they are eligible for voluntary retirement, you don't get that by just joining a company recently). On the other hand, some experienced people are going throw in their hat and leave. Some of these old timers are probably not up to date on new tech. If you want Intel to use new industry standard PDK's to design CPUs, you would have to teach an old timer new techniques. But based on my experience in Aerospace engineering, brightest & experienced engineers who retired and enjoyed, working came back as consultants working less hours or on an advisory role. I don't know if that is a practice in semi industry. What is the other alternative? I don't know. What is that you would have done differently?
bloated fab construction spending (especially in Ohio) - This is ridiculous. I don't understand why people here are against Ohio for some reason. First Intel is not an IDM anymore. They can't rip out the old equipment and install new equipment in their old fab and run new nodes like they used to do. They can't run capacity exactly equal to demand like they used to. Right now Fab 42, Fab 52 is going to be Intel 18A. Fab 62 will be likely shelled for future capacity. Fab 42 and 52 will mostly serve Intel's own products like PTL+WCL, CWF, DMR and in future NVL. They need partial Fab 52 and 62 to service external customers. whether they sign on or not, they need this physical space to convince your customer to sign on. No serious customer is going to sign up to use IFS if Intel says we will build capacity (including the physical fab) if you sign on. That is a perk for established players like TSMC.
Ohio fab is where they planned to ramp 14A to HVM. Even intel products need to be made there when 14A comes online. Also from a financial POV, building the fab takes long time and you amortize the cost over 15 or 20 years. There is no significant impact to P&L. It is prudent to build these early when you have cash in your coffer rather than borrow to build it when everything goes to shit. IMO, Intel is slowing Ohio build out not because it is unnecessary but because their core business in Data Center got disrupted by AI and their cashflow from that business is dried up.
non-obvious foundry strategy to win customers (especially uncompetitive PDKs) - No clue what you are talking about here. They already have external customers on 18A. PDK is not on par with TSMC but isn't that something established player like Samsung struggle with. It will get better over time. Oh you mean multi billion dollar customers signing on with millions and millions of wafers starts? If investors thought, Intel Foundry will be successful get go to 10s of billion dollars, then they did not do due diligence and deserve to lose their money. Foundry initiative will be a grind for 5 years at least. If investors don't understand that, then they should not be investing money in Intel.
inefficient and bloated corporate org structure - This is just what the press likes to whip out as problem for Intel. I don't how much to comment anything here. I do know it was not a problem before while raking in billion of DC CPU money in 2021.
played musical chairs repeatedly with his foundry top line staff more than once, and several times made a fool out of himself and the company in the industry press - Any specifics here on the musical chair, made a fool our of himself? I would like to know. Are you talking about the "AMD in rear view mirror" thing?
PG lived up to my lowest expectations as CEO. - Okay! you are entitled to your opinion.
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