President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration is reportedly considering acquiring an approximately 10 percent stake in Intel, according to reports from Bloomberg, The New York Times, and other U.S. media outlets. The U.S. government is said to be exploring an investment in Intel that would convert all or part of the subsidies granted under the CHIPS Act into equity. This move would make the U.S. government the largest shareholder in the struggling semiconductor giant. Rumors of potential government involvement had already surfaced in recent days, has been reported.
Intel is set to receive $10.9 billion in CHIPS Act subsidies for commercial and military chip production – roughly the amount needed to fund the proposed stake. At Intel’s current market valuation, a 10 percent stake would be worth around $10.5 billion. White House spokesperson Kush Desai declined to comment on specifics, stating only that no agreement is official until formally announced by the administration. He also hinted that the government could convert other CHIPS Act subsidies into equity stakes in the future.
Meanwhile, Intel has already secured a major financial boost from Japan. Tech conglomerate SoftBank, led by billionaire Masayoshi Son, has agreed to purchase $2 billion worth of Intel shares, as confirmed by both companies.
SoftBank is expanding its U.S. operations, including involvement in the »Stargate« project – a collaboration with OpenAI to build massive AI data centers. The company also holds a majority stake in Arm, whose chip designs power nearly all smartphones and tablets worldwide.
Once a dominant force in semiconductors, Intel has faced significant challenges in recent years. Nvidia has surged ahead in AI chips, while Intel faces increasing pressure in its core businesses – PC processors and data center chips.
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