New York (NCS) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted Tuesday the US government may be contemplating taking a stake in struggling chipmaker Intel, coming after a number of media shops have reported that discussions have been in place.
Such a deal, if it have been to occur, would mark an uncommon association that may see the Trump administration take a stake in a non-public American enterprise.
In an interview with CNBC Tuesday morning, Bessent urged a deal like this is able to be about boosting an American tech firm, relatively than making cash from Intel.
When requested whether or not taking a stake in Intel would imply convincing US firms to buy chips from the tech large, Bessent stated any funding in Intel could be supposed to “help stabilize the company for chip production here in the US.”
“The last thing we’re going to do is put pressure, is take the stake and then try to drum up business,” he stated, including that it could be a “conversion of the grant,” seemingly referencing experiences from Bloomberg, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal indicating that the administration might convert grants from the CHIPS and Science Act into an fairness stake. The experiences point out that the administration is weighing a 10% stake in Intel.
Bloomberg first reported the discussions final week.
“There’s no talk of trying to force companies to buy from Intel,” he stated, including that reliance on Taiwan for chips, the place nearly all of the world’s chips are made, is a “national security concern.”
“For national security, we have to stop that single point of failure,” he stated.
Intel declined to touch upon experiences of such a deal when approached by NCS final week, however stated it “is deeply committed to supporting President Trump’s efforts to strengthen U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership.”
“We look forward to continuing our work with the Trump Administration to advance these shared priorities, but we are not going to comment on rumors or speculation,” the spokesperson stated in a assertion.
“Discussion about hypothetical deals should be regarded as speculation unless officially announced by the Administration,” White House spokesman Kush Desai stated in a assertion to NCS final week.
The experiences and Bessent’s feedback additionally come after chipmakers Nvidia and AMD stated they’d pay 15% from their chip gross sales in China to the government in trade for export licenses. If the government does take a stake in Intel, it might additionally function a mannequin for different Trump administration investments, two individuals accustomed to the White House discussions on the matter advised NCS final week.
President Donald Trump met with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan final week after calling for the tech govt’s resignation over allegations about his hyperlinks to China.
Intel has fallen behind in the chip race after shedding to rivals like Qualcomm and Nvidia on the shift to cellular and AI. The chipmaker stated final month that it had principally accomplished plans to put off 15% of its employees.
Trump has pushed to revive manufacturing in the United States and cement America as a chief in the tech sector, two targets which have been a cornerstone of his presidency to date. He’s touted main investments from firms like Apple, TSMC and Nvidia to increase their US operations as political wins, though these firms have invested in broadening their US presence earlier than his second time period.
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NCS’s Phil Mattingly and Clare Duffy contributed to this report.