July 25, 2025

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Intel Cuts 24,000 Jobs, Shelves Major Expansion Projects

Intel Corp. has unveiled a sweeping restructuring plan alongside its Q2 2025 earnings, aiming to reduce headcount from 108,900 to 75,000 by year-end 2025. CEO Lip-Bu Tan announced the elimination of approximately 24,000 “core” roles—nearly one-third of its workforce—to drive non-GAAP operating expenses down to $17 billion this year and $16 billion in 2026.

Key to the plan is the cancellation of high-cost projects in Germany and Poland, plus the consolidation of Costa Rica’s assembly and test operations into facilities in Vietnam and Malaysia. These moves reflect Intel’s shift toward financial discipline and market-backed investments, as the company repositions itself against rivals like TSMC and Nvidia.

Shenzhen Repair Shops Defy US Bans on Smuggled Nvidia AI Chips

Shenzhen’s underground repair shops are servicing hundreds of smuggled Nvidia A100 and H100 GPUs each month, charging between $1,400 and $2,800 per fix and bypassing U.S. export controls. These high-end accelerators, imported through illicit channels to power AI research and data centers, suffer failure rates of up to 20% within months, fueling a multimillion-dollar repair economy.

Industry observers warn this burgeoning aftermarket could undermine U.S. sanctions, accelerate China’s push for semiconductor self-sufficiency, and highlight enforcement gaps in global supply chains:

Up to 500 GPUs repaired monthly

Repair costs equal 1–2% of a new H100 array

Failures from overheating, memory faults, and power stress

Shops source parts from a sprawling black-market ecosystem

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Intel’s 14A Process Faces Delays Amid Job Cuts and Project Pullbacks

Intel is reconsidering its next-generation 14A chip process, saying development may slow or halt unless it lines up external customers and meets critical performance milestones. CEO Lip-Bu Tan told analysts the advanced 1.4nm-class node won’t advance without firm volume commitments—a departure from Intel’s traditional “build-first” approach.

The announcement accompanies one of Intel’s largest restructurings: the company plans to reduce its workforce from nearly 100,000 to about 75,000 by end-2025, cancel planned mega-fabs in Germany and Poland, and slow U.S. factory builds to better match market demand. With R&D spending topping $16.5 billion in 2024, Intel risks ceding ground on leading-edge nodes to TSMC and Samsung if 14A doesn’t secure significant take-up.

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Intel slashes nearly 25K jobs, halts Germany & Poland mega-fabs