Intel’s history can be told in the words of the people who ran it. This is a sourced collection of the most important things Intel’s founders and leaders have said, from Gordon Moore’s 1965 prediction to Lip-Bu Tan’s earnings calls. Every quote is word for word and linked to where it appeared. Where we could only find a quote in a reliable secondary source, we say so. At the end is a list of famous “Intel quotes” that were never said that way.
The founders: 1965 to 1998
Gordon Moore, co-founder
“The future of integrated electronics is the future of electronics itself.”
Gordon Moore, Fairchild Semiconductor · “Cramming More Components onto Integrated Circuits,” Electronics, April 19, 1965 · source
“The complexity for minimum component costs has increased at a rate of roughly a factor of two per year. … Certainly over the short term this rate can be expected to continue, if not to increase.”
Gordon Moore · Electronics, April 19, 1965: the original Moore's Law · source
“The new slope might approximate a doubling every two years, rather than every year, by the end of the decade.”
Gordon Moore, President and CEO · IEEE IEDM, 1975 · source
“As you leave this meeting I want to encourage each of you to think smaller.”
Gordon Moore, Chairman · closing line, SPIE speech, 1995 · source
“I never said 18 months, in spite of that being quoted in literature quite often!”
Gordon Moore, Chairman Emeritus · Scientific American interview, September 1997 · source
“Any physical quantity growing exponentially predicts disaster. … It comes to an end. You can’t go beyond any major limit.”
Gordon Moore, Chairman Emeritus · on the limits of Moore's Law, Intel Developer Forum, September 2007 · source · as reported
Robert Noyce, co-founder
“I think the only thing that’s technologically exciting is something for which there is a need.”
Robert Noyce, Chairman · IEEE oral history, September 19, 1975 · source
“When something breaks down, you don’t wait around for a new part, because it’s not coming. You make it yourself.”
Robert Noyce · as quoted by Tom Wolfe, Esquire, December 1983 · source · secondary source
“Don’t be encumbered by history. Go off and do something wonderful.”
Robert Noyce, co-founder · his advice to employees, as quoted by Intel, 2014 · source · undated
Andy Grove, CEO 1987 to 1998
“Only the paranoid survive.”
Andy Grove, President and CEO · reported as his dictum to employees, Chicago Tribune, March 18, 1990 · source · secondary source
“Business success contains the seeds of its own destruction. Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.”
Andy Grove · preface, Only the Paranoid Survive, 1996 · source · secondary source
“If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what do you think he would do?”
Andy Grove to Gordon Moore, 1985 · Moore replied: “He would get us out of memories.” Recounted in Only the Paranoid Survive · source · secondary source
“A time in the life of a business when its fundamentals are about to change.”
Andy Grove · his definition of a strategic inflection point, Only the Paranoid Survive, 1996 · source · secondary source
“Let chaos reign, then rein in chaos.”
Andy Grove · Only the Paranoid Survive, 1996, chapter 7 · source · secondary source
“What we view as an extremely minor technical problem has taken on a life of its own. … To some people, this policy seemed arrogant and uncaring. We apologize.”
Andy Grove, President and CEO · Pentium FDIV statement, December 20, 1994 · source
“Technology happens. It’s not good, it’s not bad. Is steel good or bad?”
Andy Grove, Chairman and CEO · TIME Man of the Year profile, December 1997 · source
“Bad companies are destroyed by crises; Good companies survive them; Great companies are improved by them.”
Andy Grove · printed on an Intel keychain, Computer History Museum collection · source · undated
“Scaling is hard work but necessary to make innovation matter.”
Andy Grove, former Chairman · “How America Can Create Jobs,” Bloomberg Businessweek, July 1, 2010 · source · reprint
“As happened with batteries, abandoning today’s “commodity” manufacturing can lock you out of tomorrow’s emerging industry.”
Andy Grove, former Chairman · same essay, July 1, 2010 · source · reprint
Arthur Rock, first chairman
“Good ideas and good products are a dime a dozen. Good execution and good management—in a word, good people—are rare.”
Arthur Rock · Harvard Business Review, 1987 · source · reprint
Growth, misses and Moore's Law: 1998 to 2021
Craig Barrett, CEO 1998 to 2005
“It’s the cannibal strategy: We eat our own children before someone else eats them.”
Craig Barrett, President · WIRED, March 27, 1998 · source
“You have two choices with R&D, lead or be led.”
Craig Barrett, CEO · Intel Developer Forum keynote, 2005 · source
Paul Otellini, CEO 2005 to 2013
“Steve, I want to report that Intel is ready.”
Paul Otellini, CEO · handing Steve Jobs a wafer at Macworld, January 10, 2006 · source
“We’re the stewards of Moore’s Law.”
Paul Otellini, CEO · Intel Developer Forum keynote, September 26, 2006 · source
“Tick-tock is the engine creating today’s most advanced technologies and keeps them coming out at a rapid cadence.”
Paul Otellini, CEO · Intel Developer Forum, September 2007 · source
“The lesson I took away from that was, while we like to speak with data around here, I should have followed my gut. My gut told me to say yes.”
Paul Otellini, outgoing CEO · on passing on the first iPhone chip, The Atlantic, May 2013 · source · secondary source
Pat Gelsinger, CTO
“No one wants to carry a nuclear reactor in their laptop onto a plane.”
Pat Gelsinger, CTO · ISSCC keynote, February 2001 · source
Renee James, President
“We were very successful, but success can breed complacency and fear.”
Renee James, President · Fortune Brainstorm Tech, July 2014 · source
Brian Krzanich, CEO 2013 to 2018
“Our cadence today is closer to two-and-a-half years than two.”
Brian Krzanich, CEO · Q2 2015 earnings call, confirming the 10nm delay · source
“I’ve heard the death of Moore’s law more times than anything else in my career. And I’m here today to really show you and tell you that Moore’s Law is alive and well and flourishing.”
Brian Krzanich, CEO · CES, January 4, 2017 · source
“The new normal for Intel is that we are going to take more risks. We’ll make mistakes. Bold doesn’t always mean right or perfect.”
Brian Krzanich, CEO · memo to employees, December 2017 · source
Bob Swan, CEO 2019 to 2021
“I’m trying to destroy the thinking about having 90% share inside our company.”
Bob Swan, CEO · Credit Suisse technology conference, December 2019 · source
The rebuild: 2021 to today
Pat Gelsinger, CEO 2021 to 2024
“As I hope you’ve gathered, Intel is back. The old Intel, is now the new Intel, as we look to the future.”
Pat Gelsinger, CEO · IDM 2.0 launch, March 23, 2021 · source
“Until the periodic table is exhausted, we will be relentless in our pursuit of Moore’s Law and our path to innovate with the magic of silicon.”
Pat Gelsinger, CEO · Intel Accelerated, July 26, 2021, launching five nodes in four years · source
“IFS is off to the races!”
Pat Gelsinger, CEO · announcing the first two Intel Foundry Services customers, July 26, 2021 · source
“Where the oil wells are has defined geopolitics for the last five decades. Where the fabs are for the next five decades is more important.”
Pat Gelsinger, CEO · WSJ Tech Live, October 25, 2022 · source
“I’ve bet the whole company on 18A.”
Pat Gelsinger, CEO · interview, February 2024 · source
“Leading Intel has been the honor of my lifetime.”
Pat Gelsinger · retirement statement, December 2, 2024 · source
Michelle Johnston Holthaus and David Zinsner, interim co-CEOs
“We firmly believe that what we say is not nearly as important as what we do.”
Michelle Johnston Holthaus, interim co-CEO · Q4 2024 earnings call, January 30, 2025 · source
“Job No. 1 is earning the customer’s trust.”
David Zinsner, CFO and interim co-CEO · Q4 2024 earnings call, January 30, 2025 · source
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO since March 2025
“Under my leadership, Intel will be an engineering-focused company. … Stay humble. Work hard. Delight our customers.”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO · first letter to employees, March 12, 2025 · source
“Foundry is a service business, and that is built on the foundational principle of trust — that is very important.”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO · Intel Vision keynote, April 1, 2025 · source
“I do not subscribe to the belief that if you build it, they will come. Under my leadership, we will build what customers need, when they need it and earn their trust through consistent execution.”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO · Q2 2025 earnings call, July 24, 2025 · source
“There are no more blank checks. Every investment must make economic sense.”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO · memo to employees, July 24, 2025 · source
“We are embracing our roots as data driven, paranoid, and engineering driven.”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO · Q1 2026 earnings call, April 23, 2026 · source
“In the last four weeks, I have had all CEOs calling me, saying: ‘I need more CPU.’”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO · Computex, June 2, 2026 · source · as reported
“I don’t put CapEx unless I see the yield performance, the IP is ready to serve the customer, and also customer engagement.”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO · Q2 2026 earnings call Q&A, July 23, 2026 · source · call transcript
“Our core message is simple: strong demand for our products continues to outpace our growing supply.”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO · Q2 2026 earnings call, July 23, 2026 · source
“Defect density and transistor performance are all outpacing 18A development.”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO · on Intel 14A, Q2 2026 earnings call, July 23, 2026 · source
“As a custodian of x86, the most widely deployed ISA in the world, we are doubling down on x86 innovation, have an exciting Tick-Tock roadmap of CPU innovations in the pipeline.”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO · Q3 2026 earnings call, October 29, 2026 · source · call transcript
“One of the just three advanced node semiconductor foundries in the world, and the only one domiciled in the U.S.”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO · describing Intel Foundry, Q3 2026 earnings call, October 29, 2026 · source · call transcript
“Server CPU TAM, largely driven by agentic workloads, could increase as much as five times from where it is today, from $40 billion to more than $200 billion over five years.”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO · Q3 2026 earnings call, October 29, 2026 · source · call transcript
“I have always emphasized that rebuilding Intel is going to be multi-year journey. And I remain firmly committed to making it happen.”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO · Q3 2026 earnings call, October 29, 2026 · source · call transcript
David Zinsner, CFO
“We see the PC slowdown continuing at least through the first half of next year.”
David Zinsner, CFO · Q3 2026 earnings release, October 29, 2026 · source · 8-K filing
Naga Chandrasekaran, Intel Foundry
“Within 5%”
Naga Chandrasekaran, Chief Technology and Operations Officer, Intel Foundry · on Intel 14A performance versus TSMC A14, KeyBanc conference, September 2026 · source · as reported
“There is an important difference between technologies made in America and technologies that are truly American-made.”
Naga Chandrasekaran, Chief Technology and Operations Officer, Intel Foundry · “Building America's Capacity to Innovate,” October 21, 2026 · source
“America is ready to build it.”
Naga Chandrasekaran · closing line, same op-ed, October 21, 2026 · source
Famous Intel quotes that were never said that way
- “Transistors double every 18 months.” Moore wrote “a factor of two per year” in 1965 and “a doubling every two years” in 1975. The 18-month figure came from Intel executive David House and referred to performance. Moore himself said in 1997: “I never said 18 months.”
- The name “Moore’s Law” was coined by Caltech professor Carver Mead, not by Moore.
- “I invest in people, not ideas,” often credited to Arthur Rock, does not appear in his 1987 essay. His actual line is about good people being rare.
- “Data is the new oil.” Brian Krzanich said it in 2018, but the phrase is usually credited to data scientist Clive Humby around 2006.
- “Intel Inside” was a 1991 marketing campaign led by Dennis Carter, not a line from any Intel CEO.
- Many “Andy Grove quotes” on quote websites, such as “Your career is your business, and you are its CEO,” have no traceable source.
Sources are linked under each quote. “Secondary source” means we found the exact words in a reputable publication quoting the original, but could not open the original itself. Earnings-call quotes are taken from Intel’s own documents where available. Not investment advice.
