Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: when a top-tier executive bails on a company, especially one who was just handed the keys to their entire AI strategy, it ain't a good sign. We're talking about Sachin Katti, Intel’s chief technology and artificial intelligence officer – or, as of yesterday, former Intel CTO and AI officer. Intel AI Leader Sachin Katti Decamps To OpenAI. He’s packed his bags and headed for OpenAI, the ChatGPT creators, to go build out their compute infrastructure for artificial general intelligence. Yeah, AGI. The stuff of sci-fi dreams.
You gotta wonder what was going through the guy’s head. He was just promoted to this massive role in April, given the reins to Intel's "overall AI strategy and AI product road map." Sounds important, right? Then, just a few months later, he's gone. Poof. Vanished into the San Francisco fog. His little X post was all sunshine and rainbows, "Very grateful for the tremendous opportunity and experience at Intel..." Give me a break. That’s the corporate equivalent of "it's not you, it's me." We've all heard it. What was the real conversation like when he told Lip-Bu Tan he was out? My bet's on awkward, at best.
Look, this isn't just a random departure. No, it's a gut punch, a full-on collapse of Intel's already shaky AI ambitions. You don't lose a guy like Katti—an adjunct professor at Stanford, a co-founder of his own company—unless things are seriously off the rails. And let’s be real, things are off the rails at Intel. Remember that "modest" $500 million revenue expectation for their Gaudi chips last year? They didn't even hit that. Five hundred million. In the AI gold rush, that's chump change. It's like bringing a butter knife to a chainsaw fight, then tripping over your own feet.
Intel’s trying to catch up in the AI chip market, but Nvidia and TSMC are running laps around them. Their central processors might power some AI systems, but a competitive data center AI chip? Still waiting on that unicorn. And Katti’s exit? It’s just another hole in an already leaky boat. We've seen former Global Channel Chief John Kalvin, Saurabh Kulkarni from Data Center AI Product Management, even a 25-year veteran like Rob Bruckner head for the exits recently. This ain't a brain drain; it's a full-on hemorrhage. When the rats start leaving, you gotta wonder what's going on under deck... and honestly, who can blame them?
The company's official line? "AI remains one of Intel’s highest strategic priorities." Of course it does. That's what every company says when they're scrambling to justify their existence in a rapidly evolving market. Then CEO Lip-Bu Tan himself steps in to "oversee" Katti's old groups, a move reported by Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan Takes Charge Of AI Strategy At Chipmaker After CTO Sachin Katti Departs For ChatGPT-Parent OpenAI. That's not a sign of strength; that's a sign of panic. It tells me they're short on talent, short on a clear direction, and realy desperate to project an image of control. They just announced a new 160-GB data center GPU, part of an "annual GPU release cadence." Sounds good on paper, but will it be enough to stop the bleeding when your top AI guy just jumped ship to the competition? I have my doubts.
So, what's the draw at OpenAI? It's simple: ambition. While Intel is still trying to figure out how to make a decent AI chip for "emerging AI workloads," OpenAI is talking about building the foundational compute infrastructure for AGI. Artificial General Intelligence. That's the holy grail, the kind of moonshot project that a brilliant mind like Katti probably can't resist. Greg Brockman, OpenAI's co-founder, is "incredibly excited" to have him. And why wouldn't he be? Katti's going from a company struggling to meet modest revenue targets to one that's pushing the boundaries of what AI can even be.
It's like being offered a spot on a rocket to Mars after spending years trying to fix a sputtering old car. The potential, the sheer scale of the challenge at OpenAI, it's intoxicating. But here’s my question: How much of this AGI talk is real, and how much is just hype to attract the best and brightest? And what happens if the compute infrastructure for AGI turns out to be an even bigger, more expensive pipe dream than Intel's Gaudi chips? Katti's a smart guy, no doubt. He's betting big on OpenAI's vision, and that's a gamble that could either pay off massively or end up being another footnote in the history of tech's grand failures. Only time will tell if he's a visionary or just a very well-paid optimist.
Let's cut the corporate BS. Sachin Katti didn't leave Intel because he suddenly discovered a passion for San Francisco fog. He left because he saw a better game, a bigger table, and a company that, for all its hype, is undeniably where the action is right now. Intel's struggling, flailing in the AI chip market, and watching its top talent walk out the door. Katti’s move isn’t just a personnel change; it’s a flashing neon sign telling us exactly where the power in AI is shifting.
