I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, Intel as we knew it, a technical powerhouse, who kicked ass and delivered the Moore's law, would likely have been best served by someone like Pat than the alternatives. However, the world may have changed and the real value of Intel going forward may be the national security aspect of it. If Intel is becoming a Lockheed Martin, perhaps you want a capital allocator more than a technologist at the helm.
Fabs. The only other major players are Samsung and TSMC, with the latter being the giant. If China invades Taiwan, they control the bulk of the semiconductor supply.
The rumors say TSMC fabs are designed to self-destruct if China takes control of them.
I don't know if that is true, but even if it wasn't I suspect that the US would destroy them instead of letting China have them. China having a de-facto monopoly on semiconductors production is a serious problem for the US until new fabs will be available elsewhere.
In fact, not only they can prioritize domestic military/AI development leapfrogging the US giving enough time, but they can provide high tech components to the likes of Russia, Iran, North Korea.
And the US wouldn't be able to retaliate as China could simply levy taxes or bans semiconductors exports to the US and whoever sells to them (similar to what the US is doing with Russia after the war in Ukraine started).
So I expect that, as soon as an hypothetical invasion of Taiwan looks like it's gonna succeed, those fabs will be reduced to dust.
> The rumors say TSMC fabs are designed to self-destruct if China takes control of them.
That still denies you access to the microprocessors that you may need for your own military equipment. My guess is that China already produces what they need in terms of microprocessors in mainland China, so while they can't access TSMC technology that won't necessarily have any influence on their weapons production. The US, and the west in general, needs to be able to produce semiconductors for the defence industry locally. For the US, and the EU, Intel is, or can be, a major part of the solution.
