This assurance came directly from Intel’s new co-CEO, Michelle Johnston Holthaus, during the company's CES 2025 keynote.

 “We are very committed to the discrete graphics market and will continue to make strategic investments in this direction.” Holthaus noted that this is a frequently asked question.

Pat [kicking] Gelsinger, in a blunt statement during a recent earnings call, had expressed doubts about the financial viability of Intel's Lunar Lake laptop processors, labelling them a failed experiment.

He suggested that there would be “less need” for investments in discrete graphics, stating,

“How are we handling graphics? That is increasingly becoming large, integrated graphics capabilities, so less need for discrete graphics in the market going forward.”

Weeks after Gelsinger's comments, Intel achieved a significant milestone with the launch of the Intel Arc B580 graphics card, which quickly sold out in various markets.

Holthaus' optimistic tone in the keynote could be interpreted as a strategic, albeit gradual, retreat from Gelsinger's position.

She praised the Lunar Lake chip and declared 2024 as “the year Intel really reasserted itself as the leader in this AI PC market” due to its performance and battery life strengths, even as the company prepares to launch Arrow Lake and Panther Lake chips, which are built differently.

Holthaus reiterated that the Panther Lake chip would launch in the second half of the year, with samples already shipping to major customers.

Intel’s future strategic investments might lean more towards AI, following the lead of industry peers AMD and Nvidia, who have pivoted to capitalise on opportunities in the AI sector.

Despite this shift, Intel is not abandoning the gaming sector. Holthaus announced that the company would release another budget-friendly gaming card, the Intel Arc B570 GPU, next week.