if you tell your boss you are leaving and they say "good luck" and don't try to counter, they probably aren't that bothered that you are leaving

in this case, Intel's situation on GPUs is so dire that it makes total sense to clear the bench...the status quo was bleak

I have heard from people who worked with him that Raja Koduri was not always the most effective leader, despite having cultivated a brand as a "celebrity" computer architect. From the outside, he has been responsible for a lot of let-downs from ATI and AMD's graphics divisions, and has otherwise managed somewhat uninspiring efforts. Intel's graphics effort has certainly been a disaster, and that flows from Koduri. This seems like standard corporate seppuku.

Likely not even close as the endgame was a face-saving move both for Intel and Raja.

From the outside this looks like a classic case of giving someone a window seat and sending the message, if not outright telling them: 'figure out your next career move'. He botched Arc badly (both in execution and messaging) and was briefly promoted then demoted. Had he tried to stick around, he most likely would have been let go and soon.