Intel CEO outlines restructuring plans amid $821 million Q1 loss

Intel reported a significant widening of losses in the first quarter of 2025, with revenue remaining flat and key divisions such as PC chips seeing notable declines. New CEO Lip-Bu Tan has launched a sweeping restructuring plan to address underperformance, targeting reductions in bureaucracy, streamlining management, and empowering engineers. While media reports have speculated layoffs could affect up to 20% of Intel's workforce, company executives have called such figures inaccurate, though confirmed that workforce reductions will begin in the second quarter and proceed over several months. Voluntary buyouts will be offered in some cases, but early retirement options are off the table, as leadership aims to retain critical expertise. The restructuring is intended to position Intel to better compete in the semiconductor industry, with a renewed focus on AI technology and engineering innovation, and operational expense reductions targeted for the coming years. Delayed plant openings and trimmed capital expenditures indicate Intel's broader scaling back of its earlier ambitions amid ongoing market challenges.