Lip-Bu Tan

Academic boards

Tan is currently on the board of UC Berkeley College of Engineering. He also is on the board of trustees of Carnegie Mellon University School of Engineering of which he is a member of the Dean's Advocacy Council, and established the Tan Endowed Graduate Fellowship for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Tan is also a trustee at the Fuller Theological Seminary, where he was a founding member of the Insight Council, and received the Imec 2023 Lifetime of Innovation Award for his contributions to the chip industry and the entrepreneurship in the tech industry.

Intel

In March 2025, Tan was named CEO of Intel, effective from March 18, 2025. Tan had been on Intel's board of directors from 2022 to 2024.

When Tan took over as CEO, he began developing a turnaround strategy focused on restructuring Intel’s manufacturing operations, reducing management layers, and revising its artificial intelligence strategy. He also sought to improve competitiveness of Intel’s foundry business by attracting more external customers for its chip-manufacturing processes.

Tan said in July 2025 that Intel planned to reduce its workforce by approximately 15%, with a target of about 75,000 employees by the end of the year. He also said the company had reduced its management layers by about half during the second quarter. Intel described the measures as part of an effort to reduce costs, streamline decision-making, and increase organizational efficiency.

In July 2025, Intel said it would not proceed with previously planned projects in Germany and Poland, would consolidate assembly and testing operations in Costa Rica into larger sites in Vietnam and Malaysia, and would further slow construction of its Ohio manufacturing project. Tan said future factory investment would be more closely tied to customer demand and confirmed commitments.

Reuters reported in April 2025 that investment firms associated with Tan held stakes in more than 600 Chinese companies, including some with reported links to entities involved in military or surveillance activities. In August, President Donald Trump publicly called for Tan’s resignation, citing concerns about his connections to China. Tan’s investment history became a subject of public scrutiny in discussions about national security and potential conflicts of interest.

Following President Trump’s public call for his resignation in August 2025, Tan arranged a meeting with Trump at the White House that led to an agreement for the U.S. government to acquire an approximately 9.9% stake in Intel. Announced later that month, the $8.9 billion investment comprised $5.7 billion in previously awarded but unpaid CHIPS Act grants and $3.2 billion associated with the Secure Enclave program. The government would receive no seat on Intel’s board.

Tan’s longstanding relationships with the semiconductor industry helped Intel secure a $5 billion investment from Nvidia. Announced in September 2025, the investment accompanied a partnership to develop products combining Intel’s central processing units with Nvidia’s graphics-processing and AI technology. The agreement formed part of Tan’s effort to revive Intel’s business and leverage his industry relationships.

Tan’s personal investments and venture-capital relationships became a governance issue at Intel after he became CEO in March 2025. In summer 2025, he proposed that Intel acquire Rivos, an AI-chip startup where he was chairman and a shareholder, but the board initially rejected the proposal because of potential conflicts of interest and concerns about Intel’s AI strategy. Intel later made an offer after Meta showed interest in Rivos. Tan also proposed that Intel acquire SambaNova, where he served as executive chairman. After becoming CEO, Tan took direct control of Intel Capital, which subsequently invested in companies in which he held interests through his investment firms. Intel adopted rules requiring Tan to recuse himself from investment decisions in which he might benefit personally.