Asger Risom
Intel’s efforts to regain ground in the artificial intelligence race have taken another hit, as their CTO joins Altman’s OpenAI.
Intel’s efforts to regain ground in the artificial intelligence race have taken another hit. The company’s chief technology officer, Sachin Katti, has left to join OpenAI, prompting CEO Lip-Bu Tan to personally take charge of Intel’s AI and advanced technologies division.
Leadership shake-up
Katti, who had overseen Intel’s AI strategy since a company-wide reorganization in January, announced on social media that he was joining ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. Intel confirmed his departure on Monday, thanking him for his work and reaffirming that “AI remains one of Intel’s highest strategic priorities.”
OpenAI President Greg Brockman said Katti will focus on “designing and building our compute infrastructure,” the backbone for developing artificial general intelligence and scaling its applications.
Intel’s AI challenge
Tan, who became CEO in March, is now directly supervising Intel’s AI and Advanced Technologies Groups. The move comes as part of a broader effort to accelerate the chipmaker’s turnaround amid mounting competition from Nvidia and Taiwan’s TSMC in high-performance AI processors.
Intel’s chips still power some AI servers but lag behind Nvidia’s specialized silicon in performance and market share. The company has also struggled to attract major customers to its contract manufacturing business, despite efforts to reposition itself as a global foundry.
Rebuilding leadership
Since Tan’s appointment, Intel has seen several senior executives depart while others have been promoted or brought in from outside. Former Arm executive Kevork Kechichian now leads Intel’s data center unit, and Naga Chandrasekaran has expanded his responsibilities to strengthen ties with contract manufacturing partners.
Katti joined Intel four years ago after a 15-year career as a Stanford professor and quickly rose through the ranks, first leading the networking division and later taking on the roles of chief technology officer and chief AI officer.
His move to OpenAI underscores the growing talent battle among tech companies racing to dominate the next phase of AI development.
Sources: Reuters, Intel, OpenAI
