Intel hires Tesla, Apple veteran to help its chip-making business

Intel has recruited Jim Keller who was the previous vice president of Autopilot at Tesla. Keller will now lead Intel's silicon engineering efforts. The company made the announcement stating that Keller will officially commence proceedings from April 30.

The new designation covers system-on-chip (SoC) development and integration - which is a big responsibilty considering Intel is the biggest chip maker in the world. Keller brings in 20 years of experience with ARM and 86-based architectures for multiple platforms. Intel also said that keller also "led Apple's custom low-power mobile chip efforts with the original A4 processor that powered the iPhone 4, as well as the subsequent A5 processor."

Rumors started doing rounds earlier this month that Apple is planning to drop Intel chips from its Macs starting 2020. Just like other major manufacturers such as Samsung, Huawei, and Qualcomm, Apple is also capable of developing powerful yet lightweight chips. Intel still remains a huge name in the industry, but critics say it's getting dull in terms of innovation, and rival firms are inching closer swiftly.
With Keller's experience of mobile technologies, the company might try to re-establish itself in the chip making business.

In a statement, Keller said: "The world will be a very different place in the next decade as a result of where computing is headed. I am excited to join the Intel team to build the future of CPUs, GPUs, accelerators and other products for the data-centric computing era."

Following the revenue issues, Intel also recently confirmed that it is thinking of killing the New Devices Group (NDG) and cease the development of its Google Glass competitor - the Vaunt. According to a report by The Information, the closure will also result in "some layoffs" from the 200 people team.

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Intel is continuously working on new technologies and experiences. Not all of these develop into a product we choose to take to market. The Superlight [the codename for Vaunt] project is a great example where Intel developed truly differentiated, consumer augmented reality glasses. We are going to take a disciplined approach as we keep inventing and exploring new technologies, which will sometimes require tough choices when market dynamics don't support further investment," said the company in a statement.