December 10, 2024 – At a recent event for the launch of his autobiography, TSMC founder Zhang Zhongmou expressed his views on Intel’s current situation, stating that the company should have focused on artificial intelligence rather than attempting to transition into a chip foundry role.
According to Reuters, Zhang, who is also known as Morris Chang, revealed that he was not privy to the specific reasons behind the resignation of Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s former CEO. However, he opined that the tech giant appeared to be facing challenges in simultaneously searching for a new strategy and a new leader.
Last week, reports emerged that Gelsinger had unexpectedly announced his retirement earlier this month, with Intel’s board of directors citing dissatisfaction with the lack of significant progress and slow implementation of his costly reform plan.
Gelsinger’s vision was to reclaim Intel’s leadership position in the high-performance and small chip foundry market, which is currently dominated by TSMC, the world’s largest chip foundry.
Commenting on this, Zhang said, “I’m not sure whether it was Pat’s strategy that was problematic or whether it was the execution… But it seems like he was more focused on the foundry business compared to AI. Of course, from where we are now, (Gelsinger) should have concentrated more on AI.”
He further added, “At present, Intel is lacking both a new strategy and a new CEO, and filling these two voids will be extremely challenging.”
Under Gelsinger’s leadership, Intel had set ambitious manufacturing and AI development goals in October this year. However, the company lost or canceled multiple customer contracts, even souring its relationship with TSMC. Zhang was critical of Gelsinger’s approach, describing it as “somewhat rude.”
