Intel gave up the simple option and spent about $95 billion.
In March 2021 Intel chose to build fabs for other companies' chips. Capital spending reached roughly $95 billion over four years, and Intel Foundry lost $13 billion in 2024. Then the CEO stepped down.
Transcript
In March 2021, Intel had a simpler option: keep designing and making only its own chips. It gave that up.
Instead, its new chief executive, Pat Gelsinger, announced IDM 2.0. Intel would also build factories to make other companies' chips, through a new unit, Intel Foundry Services. He pledged an estimated $20 billion for two new fabs in Arizona.
Intel's capital spending across 2021 to 2024 totaled roughly $95 billion.
And the foundry lost money. Intel Foundry posted an operating loss of roughly $7 billion in 2023, and $13 billion in 2024.
On December 1, 2024, Gelsinger stepped down. Intel's board had given him the choice to retire or be removed.
What did choosing show? The option Intel gave up, focusing on its own chips, was the cheaper one to run. The foundry may still pay off; Intel targets break-even by the end of 2027. But when you drop the simple option, write down what the ambitious one must earn to beat it.
The records behind this video
Every figure in the video comes from this Decision Record, each with its sources.
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