Intel is going to have to do without the person it hired several years ago to head up its GPU unit to compete against NVIDIA and AMD. Today, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced on Twitter that its graphics head Raja Koduri will be departing the company at the end of March.
In his message, Gelsinger also revealed that Kodur will be launching a new, but currently unnamed, startup centering on "generative AI for gaming, media & entertainment." Koduri responded by thanking Gelsinger for his time at Intel, and that he would reveal more about his new startup in the coming weeks.
Thank you Pat and @intel for many cherished memories and incredible learning over the past 5 years. Will be embarking on a new chapter in my life, doing a software startup as noted below. Will have more to share in coming weeks. https://t.co/8DcnNdso3r
— Raja Koduri (Bali Makaradhwaja) (@RajaXg) March 21, 2023
Hiring Koduri back in 2017 from AMD, where he was the Chief GPU architect, was a big coup for Intel at the time. He helped develop Intel"s own dedicated GPU, which was eventually given the brand name Arc in 2021. The company finally launched its first Arc desktop GPU, the entry level Arc A380, less than a year ago. However, it and other members of the Arc family have not made much of a dent in the GPU space, with NVIDIA and AMD still on top.