In a blistering critique, former Intel CEO and Chairman Craig Barrett has strongly opposed breaking the company into separate design and foundry units, arguing that Intel’s recent technological resurgence positions it to challenge TSMC’s dominance in the semiconductor industry without corporate dismantling.

"Pat Gelsinger, who ran Intel the last three-plus years — he was abruptly fired two months ago — did a great job resuscitating the technology development team, and today the company's leading technology is on par with TSMC's 2nm technology," Barrett argued.

Barrett, who ran Intel from 1998 to 2005, didn't mince words in his opinion piece published on Fortune, where he expressed a starkly different take. He

Former Intel CEO Craig Barrett has criticized proposals to split the company, blaming the board for its decline and arguing that firing them and reinstating Pat Gelsinger would be a smarter move as Intel fights to regain its competitive edge against TSMC and Broadcom amid financial struggles and production delays.

Craig Barrett suggests that dividing up Intel is the wrong move to take right now, especially as it just had a breakthrough in chip technology.

Former Intel CEO Craig Barrett says Intel shouldn't split its business into two, to battle TSMC it should 'fire the Intel board and rehire Pat Gelsinger'.

In an op-ed published in Fortune, former Intel CEO Craig Barret argues that Intel's future lies not in breaking the company into separate design and manufacturing units, but in restoring strong, experienced leadership at its helm.