Intel Cuts Data Center and AI Jobs Days Before Earnings as Lip-Bu Tan’s Turnaround Deepens

Intel has launched a new round of layoffs inside its Data Center and Artificial Intelligence Group, the business that sits at the center of the industry's AI gold rush, cutting jobs just days before the company is set to report quarterly earnings.

The chipmaker confirmed it had notified affected employees within the unit but did not disclose how many positions would be eliminated. The reductions come ahead of Intel's second-quarter results, due July 23, and they signal that Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan is pressing forward with an aggressive effort to shrink and refocus the storied Silicon Valley company even in its highest-profile growth area.

Intel described the moves as part of a broader push to become "more focused and efficient," language that has accompanied a series of cutbacks since Tan took the helm. Tan succeeded Pat Gelsinger as chief executive in March 2025 and has since laid out a turnaround strategy that included plans to reduce Intel's global workforce by roughly 15 percent, alongside a retrenchment in capital spending and a hard look at underperforming projects.

The latest cuts are notable precisely because they land in the data-center and AI division rather than in a legacy business. Rivals such as Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices have reaped enormous gains from surging demand for AI accelerators and server chips, and Intel has struggled to keep pace, losing ground in a market it once dominated. Trimming staff in that unit underscores the pressure the company faces to prove it can compete for AI dollars while controlling costs.

Intel sought to reassure customers that the reductions would not disrupt operations, saying the layoffs would not affect chip production. Still, the timing — on the eve of an earnings report investors will scrutinize for signs of stabilization — highlighted how deep the company's challenges run. Intel's stock has been battered over the past two years amid manufacturing stumbles, delayed products and questions about its costly bet to build out contract chipmaking through its foundry arm.

For Tan, the calculus is stark. He has argued that a leaner Intel with sharper priorities can recover its footing, but each fresh wave of job cuts also risks eroding morale and draining talent at a moment when the company can least afford to fall further behind. Employees and investors alike will be watching Thursday's results and the executive team's commentary for a clearer picture of whether the restructuring is beginning to bear fruit or whether more painful reductions lie ahead.