Intel has decided to slam the brakes on its automotive chip business and roll the shutters down, which was based in Munich, Germany. The Oregonian got its hands on an internal memo which confirms that the company is shutting the auto division.
End of the road for auto division
The internal memo states that ‘Intel plans to wind down the Intel architecture automotive business,’ and will lay off most of the workers in that section. Intel’s official statement over this decision read, “As we’ve said previously, we are refocusing on our core client and data centre products to better serve our customers. As part of this work, we have decided to close the automotive business within our client computing group. We are working to ensure a smooth transition for our customers.”
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has openly acknowledged Intel’s need to shift away from a culture that measures leadership success by the size of teams. He emphasised the importance of empowering small, yet high-performing teams to take full ownership of critical projects. Tan also highlighted that leadership will carefully align job reductions with the company’s strategic priorities. Alongside layoffs, Intel intends to outsource segments of its marketing operations to Accenture, which plans to leverage AI tools to manage customer communication tasks. Recently, these changes mark a significant transformation in Intel’s operational approach.
Intel’s automotive division, while not a major revenue contributor, has been actively involved in automated vehicle technology and the growing field of software-defined vehicles. The company made significant multimillion-dollar investments in this sector, especially during the early stage of autonomous vehicle development around 2015. At that time, Intel’s venture arm committed $250 million to automotive technology.
The division’s profile was further elevated when Intel acquired Mobileye in 2017 for $15.3 billion to bolster its self-driving capabilities. Mobileye later became a publicly traded company with Intel as a major shareholder. In 2020, Intel’s automotive unit also acquired Moovit for $900 million, an Israeli startup specialising in mobility solutions.Intel’s recent decisions align with a tough period for tech as Layoffs.fyi earlier reported over 62,000 tech job losses in 2025. Giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta are also cutting jobs to streamline strategies and reduce costs.
