President Donald Trump on Friday said that United States government would take a ten percent stake in Intel as part of a deal.
“He walked in wanting to keep his job and he ended up giving us $10 billion for the United States,” Trump said on Friday.
The reported agreement follows a meeting with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan and Trump earlier in August that arose after the president demanded the CEO’s resignation over his ties to Chinese firms.
Yahoo reported:
The move follows a $2 billion capital injection from SoftBank Group in what was a major vote of confidence for the troubled U.S. chipmaker in the middle of a turnaround.
Federal backing could give Intel more breathing room to revive its loss-making foundry business, analysts said, but it still suffers from a weak product roadmap and challenges in attracting customers to its new factories.
Trump has pursued government investment in semiconductors and rare earth materials, which includes a stake in chipmaker Nvidia and MP Materials.
“We should get an equity stake for our money,” Commerce Department Secretary Howard Lutnick said this week.
“So we’ll deliver the money, which was already committed under the Biden administration. We’ll get equity in return for it.”
Breitbart News reported:
The CHIPS Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022, aims to bolster the U.S. semiconductor industry and reduce the country’s reliance on foreign chipmakers. In practice, it has failed to spur growth at Intel, which has undergone massive layoffs despite the funding.
Intel, along with other major U.S. chipmakers, has been actively seeking government support to expand its domestic manufacturing capabilities. The company has previously announced plans to invest heavily in new chip fabrication facilities in the United States, including a $20 billion investment in two new factories in Arizona. Despite these grand plans, Intel delayed groundbreaking on its “Silicon Heartland” in Ohio.
“It’s not governance, we’re just converting what was a grant under Biden into equity for the Trump administration, for the American people. Nonvoting,” Lutnick added.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
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