There are two different but related
problems. One is called Meltdown, that is the big Intel problem that will require software patch shutting off speculative execution which will slow down processor by up to 30%. The other is called Spectre and it is less of a threat, but it affects all processors and requires replacement of the CPU. It is much harder to exploit.
They knew about this for months, were scheduled to release it next week, but British "The Register" released it yesterday, before the tech companies had finished preparing the patch.