[Wytwwww]

Individual Russian software developers might be reliable but that's hardly the point. They should've just moved them to US or even Germany or something like that if they were serious about entering the GPU market, though...

e.g. There are plenty of talented engineers in China as well but it would be severely idiotic for any western company to move their core R&D there. Same applied to Russia.

[kgeist]

Well, Intel Russia opened in 2000 back when USA and Russia were on good terms, and Putin was relatively unknown. Sure it was a mistake in hindsight...

[Wytwwww]

I doubt they began working on ARC/XE drivers back in 2000. If the entire driver team being in Russia (i.e. Intel trying to save money) was truly the main reason why ARC failed on launch they really only have themselves to blame...

[aguaviva]

Not just in hindsight -- but by 2011 it was clear to anyone paying attention where Russia was heading (if not to war, then certainly to a long-term dictatorship). Anyone who failed to see the signs, or chose to intellectualize past them - did so willingly.

[lucianbr]

I think if you're CEO of Intel, some foresight might be in order. Or else the ability to find a solution fast when things turn impredictibly sour. What did he get a $16mil salary for?

[kergonath]

It had been obvious for quite a while even before 2022. There were the Chechen wars, and Georgia in 2008, and Crimea in 2014. All the journalists and opposition politicians killed over the years, and the constant concentration of power in the hands of Putin. The Ukraine invasion was difficult to predict, but Russia was a dangerous place long before that. It’s a CEO’s job to have a strategic vision, there must have been contingency plans.

[kgeist]

Wars involving the US in the 21st century:

  War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
  US intervention in Yemen (2002–present)
  Iraq War (2003–2011)
  US intervention in the War in North-West Pakistan (2004–2018)
  Second US Intervention in the Somali Civil War (2007–present)
  Operation Ocean Shield (2009–2016)
  Intervention in Libya (2011)
  Operation Observant Compass (2011–2017)
  US military intervention in Niger (2013–2024)
  US-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2021)
  US intervention in the Syrian civil war (2014–present)
  US intervention in Libya (2015–2019)
  Operation Prosperity Guardian (2023–present)

Wars involving Russia in the 21st century:

  Second Chechen War (1999–2009)
  Russo-Georgian War (2008)
  Russo-Ukrainian War (2014–present)
  Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War (2015–present)
  Central African Republic Civil War (2018–present)
  Mali War (2021–present)
  Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso (2024–present)

[kergonath]

I don’t know what you are trying to say. If you have a point to make, at least be honest about it.

Also, I am not American and not an I conditional supporter of their foreign policy. And considering the trajectory of American politics it is obvious that any foreign multinational developing in the US should have contingency plans.

[kgeist]

My point was that great powers are always in some kind of military conflict, so it's not really a deciding factor when choosing where to build an R&D.

Putin's concentration of power has been alarming, but only since around 2012, to be honest. It was relatively stable between 2000 and 2012 in general (minus isolated cases of mysterious deaths and imprisonments). Russia was business-friendly back then, open to foreign investors, and most of Putin's authoritarian laws were yet to be issued. Most of the conflicts Russia was involved in were viewed as local conflicts in border areas (Chechen separatism, disputed Georgian territories, frozen East Ukrainian conflict, etc.). Only in 2022 did the Ukraine war escalate to its current scale, and few people really saw it coming (see: thousands of European/American businesses operating in Russia by 2022 without any issue)

So I kind of see why Intel didn't do much about it until 2022. In fact, they even built a second R&D center in 2020... (20 years after the first one).

[Wytwwww]

The wars or military conflicts themselves are kind of tangential. It's the geopolitical risks that come along with them.

i.e. if you are an American/European company and you are doing business in Russia you must account for the potential risks of suddenly. The sanctions after 2014 were a clear signal and Intel had years to take that into account.

> So I kind of see why Intel didn't do much about it until 2022.

I'm pretty sure that the consensus (based on pretty objective evidence) is that Intel was run by incompetent hacks prior to 2021 (and probably still is).

> thousands of European/American businesses operating in Russia by 2022

Selling your products there or having local manufacturing is not quite the same as outsourcing your R&D there due to obvious reasons...

[echoangle]

Yeah, so if you’re a Russian company, you shouldn’t outsource to the US. Or what are you trying to tell us?

[Wytwwww]

Well obviously? I mean you'd be entirely screwed because of the sanctions.

Then again Yandex kind of pulled it off.