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From left, Playground Global partners Peter Barrett, Pat Gelsinger, Jory Bell, Bruce Leak and Ben Kim.

Playground Global

After a tumultuous four years running Intel, Pat Gelsinger is going into venture capital.

Gelsinger, who was ousted by the chipmaker in December, has joined Playground Global as a general partner. Started in 2015 by a group that included Android founder Andy Rubin, Playground focuses on early-stage investments in deep technology.

Gelsinger told CNBC in an interview that he considered starting a venture firm with someone else, but opted to go with a structure that was already up and running.

“It’s about scale,” Gelsinger said, adding that starting from scratch would require “10 hard years to get it.”

Before joining Playground, Gelsinger made a handful of private investments in startups including church outreach software startup Gloo, wearable maker Oura and artificial intelligence chip developer Fractile. At Playground, he’ll join the board of portfolio company xLight, which is developing lasers for semiconductor manufacturing.

Gelsinger is entering VC after 45 years in the technology industry. He spent three decades at Intel, becoming its first chief technology officer, and left in 2009 for data center hardware maker EMC. He later led server virtualization company VMware.

In 2021, with Intel struggling from delays in releasing new generations of processors, he rejoined the company as CEO.

Intel shares fall after CEO leaves

Under Gelsinger, Intel focused on semiconductor fabrication, pouring money into an effort to develop chips for other companies. In 2024, the Biden administration awarded Intel up to $8.5 billion in CHIPS and Science Act funding as part of a plan to bring chip manufacturing back to the U.S.

But Intel lost market share and got trounced by Nvidia in AI, prompting a massive selloff in its stock price. Intel’s market cap plummeted by 60% in 2024, its worst performance in over five decades as a public company.

In December, Intel announced Gelsinger’s retirement. Earlier this month, the company said Lip-Bu Tan, a former CEO of Cadence Design Systems, will take over as CEO.

Gelsinger isn’t the first ex-Intel CEO to find his way to venture. His predecessor, Bob Swan, became a growth operating partner at venture firm Andreessen Horowitz in 2021, a few months after leaving the chipmaker.

AI and quantum

Gelsinger said he’s looking forward to seeing this week’s stock market debut of CoreWeave, which rents out Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) to Microsoft, Nvidia and OpenAI.

“Obviously they’ve been able to ride the wave of at-scale data centers for AI computing,” Gelsinger said. “There are multiple participants who are trying to do it. They did the best in that. The question is, what’s their sustainable differentiation?”

Another technology of interest, Gelsinger said, is quantum computing. Unlike classical computers that store data in bits that are either on or off, quantum computers operate with quantum qubits, or qubits, that can be in both states at the same time. The hope among quantum bulls is that the technology might be able to perform certain calculations that have stymied today’s machines.

Amazon and Microsoft have both had their latest claims published in the journal Nature. Gelsinger said he looks forward to working on quantum computing with PsiQuantum, a Playground portfolio company.

PsiQuantum is raising $750 million or more in fresh capital at a $6 billion valuation, with BlackRock planning to lead the round, CNBC confirmed. Reuters reported about the fundraising efforts on Monday.

Quantum computers will be “materially impacting computing structures before the end of this decade,” Gelsinger said.

In February, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) said it will evaluate whether quantum systems from PsiQuantum and Microsoft will be more valuable than they cost by 2033. The release didn’t mention Intel, which announced its inaugural quantum chip, codenamed Tunnel Falls, in 2023.

Gelsinger said he wishes the best to his former employer and Tan, its new leader.

“I certainly believe that Intel is critical for the semiconductor industry,” he said. “You need to design and manufacture leading-edge technology.”

— CNBC’s Kate Rooney contributed to this report.

WATCH: Intel shares fall after CEO leaves

Intel shares fall after CEO leaves

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Microsoft Outlook hit with hours-long outage

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Microsoft Outlook hit with hours-long outage

Omar Marques | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Microsoft‘s Outlook email service malfunctioned for several hours Wednesday and Thursday, prompting some people to post on social media about the inability to reach their virtual mailboxes.

The issue began at 6:20 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, according to a dashboard the software company maintains. It affected Outlook.com as well as Outlook mobile apps and desktop programs.

At 12:21 ET the Microsoft 365 Status account posted that it was rolling out a fix.

“Our configuration changes have effectively resolved impact in targeted infrastructure. We’re now deploying the changes worldwide to resolve impact for all users,” Microsoft said in an X post on Thursday afternoon.

The company’s status page said “most impacted users will experience relief within the next two hours,” and that it was continuing to monitor the service.

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On social media, some people reported that Outlook was functioning properly after hours of users posting about problems.

Some posts included screenshots of Outlook that said “something went wrong.” 

With hundreds of millions of active users, Outlook is important, although Apple and Google‘s email clients are more popular, according to data from analytics company Litmus

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Amazon warehouse workers lose jobs after Trump’s immigration crackdown: ‘We have done everything legally’

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Amazon warehouse workers lose jobs after Trump's immigration crackdown: 'We have done everything legally'

A worker prepares orders at an Amazon.com Inc. fulfillment center.

Jason Alden | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Daphnee Poteau, a Haitian who came to the U.S in 2023, began working for Amazon last year at a returns center in Indianapolis. While packing up boxes, she met her husband Kristopher Vincent, who’s been at the site, known as IND8, since 2013.

Last month, Poteau was contacted by the Department of Homeland Security, after the Trump administration canceled humanitarian immigration programs that allowed participants to live and work legally in the U.S. for two years while applying for permanent status.

A notice from DHS told Poteau that her parole program was being terminated. Her last day at Amazon was June 28. She’s among a group of warehouse workers whose jobs have been eliminated since DHS revoked the parole program that was created during the Biden administration.

While Poteau tries to secure a spousal visa, her future in the U.S. is uncertain. She and Vincent, who’s from Indiana, said they’re concerned about being able to afford rent and costly immigration fees.

“We’re taking it one day at a time, but it does leave me stressed that they’re going to come and try to get her, even though she does have an asylum case pending in court,” Vincent said in an interview.

“Everything we’ve seen in the news shows they flagrantly no longer care what the laws say,” Vincent said.

Poteau and her terminated co-workers had been protected under programs that provided Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans with temporary legal status in the U.S. Many of the employees at IND8 are Haitian, a large enough contingent that some of the morning staff meetings are translated into Creole, Vincent said.

Daphnee Poteau met her husband Kristopher Vincent while working at an Amazon warehouse in Indianapolis.

Kristopher Vincent

Amazon last month began asking staffers who came to the U.S. under the Biden-era program to provide updated work permits within a certain timeframe or they would be put on unpaid leave, according to documents viewed by CNBC.

Several workers who spoke to CNBC said they were dismissed by Amazon in late June after they couldn’t get new work authorizations.

Amazon declined to say how many employees were let go following the changes in immigration policy, but spokesperson Richard Rocha said the company prepared for potential staffing impacts due to changes in work authorization programs, and made adjustments to be in compliance with the law.

“We’re supporting employees impacted by the government’s recent changes in immigration policy,” Rocha said in a statement. “Over the past few months, we’ve been in regular communication with these employees about the changes and are ensuring they’re aware of all available resources.”

The company has provided impacted employees with information about where to find free or low-cost legal services, access to counseling support and other resources, Rocha said.

A DHS spokesperson pointed to the agency’s announcement terminating the humanitarian parole program.

Fired before Prime Day

As part of the Trump administration’s broad immigration crackdown, DHS has eliminated not just the humanitarian parole program. It’s also ended separate programs that provided temporary protected status to Venezuelans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Hondurans seeking refuge from their native countries, which have suffered from armed conflict and humanitarian crises. Last week, a federal judge ruled the Trump administration can’t revoke the temporary protected status, or TPS, of Haitian migrants. The White House said it will appeal the ruling.

Amazon is far from alone. Other companies including Walmart and Disney have been forced to fire employees or put them on leave in order to comply with shifting federal policies.

Among private employers in the U.S., only Walmart has a bigger workforce than Amazon. Most of the e-commerce giant’s 1.56 million employees globally are concentrated in its warehouse operations.

The terminations started just as Amazon was gearing up for its annual Prime Day discount blitz, which began on Tuesday and lasts four days. The event is typically one of the busiest periods of the year for Amazon warehouse and delivery employees, alongside the holiday shopping season.

Amazon has counted on immigrants to meet a big part of its staffing needs. In 2022, the company set a goal to hire 5,000 refugees and other forcibly displaced individuals by the end of 2024.

While Trump’s policies create a challenge for large employers like Amazon, the real devastation is being felt by the immigrant workers. Those who now find themselves unemployed and lacking documentation are at a higher risk of being targeted for deportation unless they can secure an alternative form of legal status.

The tariff extension was the greatest thing to happen to Prime Day, says UNCS' Brett Rose

Christopher Lubin, an Amazon warehouse worker in Delaware, lost his job at the company on June 27, a day before Poteau received her notice.

“We have done everything legally in this country,” said Lubin, 24, who is also from Haiti. “We haven’t committed fraud. We go to school, we work, and we pay taxes.”

DHS said it was revoking protections for Haitian nationals after a review by Secretary Kristi Noem determined “country conditions have improved to the point where Haitians can return home in safety.”

The U.S. granted TPS for Haitian nationals following a catastrophic earthquake in 2008 that destroyed much of the nation’s infrastructure. In 2024, the TPS designation was extended through February 2026, as the country faced “rapidly deteriorating security, human rights and humanitarian” conditions, according to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Armed gangs control the majority of Port-au-Prince and violence has spread beyond the capital in recent months. About 10 individuals from Haiti lost their jobs at an Amazon warehouse in Spokane, Washington, after DHS revoked the TPS program, said Katia Jasmin, executive director of Creole Resources, which provides support to Haitian immigrants in the region.

Serge, who asked to have his full name withheld out of fear of being targeted for deportation, came to the U.S. from Haiti nearly two years ago and secured a job at the Spokane warehouse as a packer. The situation in Haiti was dire when he left and it remains unsafe today, Serge said.

“I witnessed violence and trauma, including the loss of family members who were killed,” Serge said. “Others were displaced from their homes and are now homeless. I genuinely feared for my life.”

In desperation, he said he sought a safer future and secured a sponsor that allowed him to come to the U.S. legally. It’s “unjust” that Haitians are now being ordered to return to their home country when it’s plagued with violence, Serge said.

“We’re not just recipients of economic support,” he said. “We’re also contributors who help drive the economy.”

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Trump immigration policies' impact on economy

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Musk says Tesla is expanding Austin robotaxi service, adding Grok to cars

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Musk says Tesla is expanding Austin robotaxi service, adding Grok to cars

Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends an opening ceremony for Tesla China-made Model Y program in Shanghai, China, on Jan. 7, 2020.

Aly Song | Reuters

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company is expanding its robotaxi service area and bringing xAI’s Grok to vehicles as it rolled out a new iteration of the artificial intelligence chatbot.

Shares gained about 3%.

Musk said on X that Grok, his AI chatbot that praised Adolf Hitler and posted a barrage of antisemitic comments recently, will be available in Tesla vehicles “next week at the latest.”

xAI officially launched the Grok 4 update overnight as the company continued to face backlash for the vitriol written by the chatbot.

In response to a user post on his social media platform X, Musk said the company is expanding its Austin, Texas robotaxi service area this weekend. He also said Tesla is awaiting regulatory approval for a launch in the Bay Area “probably in a month or two.”

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The expansion of robotaxi and Grok integration comes at a fraught time for Musk and his empire.

Tesla set its annual shareholder meeting for Nov. 6, a Thursday filing showed. A group of investors recently called on the electric vehicle company to schedule the meeting.

Its last shareholder meeting was in June 2024, as Musk established himself as a major backer of President Donald Trump‘s reelection campaign. Musk later led the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.

After stepping down from DOGE at the end of May, Musk has openly feuded with Trump on social media over the major tax bill, with the president suggesting the government look at cutting contracts for Musk’s companies.

Shares have tanked from their post-election high over investor concerns that the public fight could hamper Tesla. Slowing sales and rising competition also stifled some investor appetite.

Tesla shares fell Monday, with the company losing $68 billion in value after Musk continued to blast Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” and said he was establishing his own political party, the “America Party.”

The world’s richest man suffered another blow Wednesday when Linda Yaccarino stepped down as CEO of his social media platform X, leaving the role after a turbulent two years for the company.

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