Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in a weekend appearance on the No Priors podcast that he is especially impressed by Israeli employees and the country’s entrepreneurial culture. “They have an entrepreneurial resilience that I really enjoy,” he said, adding that he is focused on where Intel can find talent, including the United States, Silicon Valley, Austin, and Israel.
Tan said much of his investment attention is directed at Israel because of its innovative, disruptive entrepreneurs and hard-working teams. He noted that even during wartime, video calls continue, with people sometimes saying they have to go to a shelter and may have to switch to audio because the internet is not good. “It’s kind of fun in a way,” he said.
The Intel chief outlined his growth target for the coming years, saying he wants a tenfold return within five to 10 years, similar to the ambition he had at Cadence, the company he led before Intel. He said Intel is much larger and harder to transform, but that the company’s foundry business, making chips for other companies, is the main route to that goal. He also said Intel is still far behind TSMC, and that the business must be built “brick by brick” as a trust-based industry. He expects progress to become visible around 2030, 2031 or 2032.
Tan pointed to a recent boost for the foundry effort after Donald Trump announced last week that Intel would manufacture chips for Apple. He also discussed Intel’s work with Elon Musk’s SpaceX on the giant Terafab chip plant, which will use Intel technologies. Tan called Musk “one of the best, if not the best, entrepreneurs in this century,” said both men believe chip infrastructure has not kept pace with AI growth, and added that the teams meet every week and find the collaboration inspiring.
