Can anyone genuinely rescue Intel from its current predicament? The company's missed mobile and AI chips opportunities have left it playing catch-up in critical markets.

Intel's CEO is stepping down as the stalwart American chipmaker has struggled to keep pace with the artificial intelligence revolution. The company announced that Pat Gelsinger, who'd led Intel since 2021 and logged more than 30 years in various positions with the chipmaker, had retired from the company effective Sunday.

It happened so abruptly that Intel doesn’t have a planned successor in mind, and so completely that Gelsinger won’t even stick around as an adviser. He’s gone. Intel has been in a tailspin for years.