Intel is looking beyond the current AI hardware boom to what comes next. Intel for years chopped critical products including CPUs, GPUs and networking gear to cut corporate fat and get back into shape. Many cuts pre-date the appointment last year of Lip-Bu Tan as CEO. Now, Tan is placing a long-term bet beyond the current crop of AI chips and doubling down on quantum processors and neuromorphic chips, which survived Intel’s earlier product cuts. Tan has now tapped company veteran Pushkar Ranade to be Intel’s new chief technology officer, with a mission to drive developments in “quantum computing, neuromorphic computing, photonics, and novel materials,” the chipmaker announced this week. The move is a longer-term bet, according to Dylan Patel, CEO of semiconductor research firm SemiAnalysis. “It’s a bit further out stuff he is doing, so it wouldn’t help with the next two years of products,” he said, adding that Ranade is an excellent choice for Intel’s move into future computing models. Multiple analysts said Intel’s quantum group has been hindered by limited funding and resources and hurt by staff turnover. Former CEO Pat Gelsinger and CTO Greg Lavender departed the company last year. Quantum uncertainty There’s very little known about Intel’s quantum computing efforts. The company’s most recent quantum chip, Tunnel Falls, was announced back in 2023. But there’s leadership continuity, with quantum hardware leader James Clarke and quantum systems and software leader Anne Matsuura still at the company. “Maybe this means Lip-Bu wants to [reorient] Intel’s focus and investment in quantum computing,” said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research. Intel has a solid record of success with technology moonshots, and its neuromorphic chip development is the best in the business, said Ian Cutress, chief analyst at semiconductor consulting firm More Than Moore. “Intel’s [quantum] approach, since [former