[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump met with Intel chief executive officer Tan Lip-Bu on Thursday (Jan 8) at the White House, where the two men discussed the company’s progress on its new line of processors following the US government’s purchase of shares in the chipmaker.
In a post to his Truth Social network, Trump hailed what he called progress at Santa Clara, California-based Intel, whose shares are up more than 70 per cent since plans emerged last year for the federal government to buy as much as 10 per cent of the company. So far, the US has amassed a roughly 5.5 per cent stake, with more set to be acquired.
“I just finished a great meeting with the very successful Intel CEO, Tan Lip-Bu,” Trump wrote. “We made a great deal, and so did Intel. Our country is determined to bring leading edge chip manufacturing back to America, and that is exactly what is happening!!!”
Since taking over as CEO in March, Tan has moved quickly to try to shore up the troubled chipmaker’s business. In addition to the US investment, Nvidia and SoftBank Group have also acquired multibillion-dollar stakes.
Though the dealmaking has lifted Intel’s stock price, the company still needs to show that new products will win back lost market share. Tan said at an industry conference this week that Intel began shipping its first sub-2-nanometre 18A products on schedule at the end of 2025. The company itself continues to rely on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company for some chip fabrication.
In his post, Trump said that the government had made “tens of billions of US dollars for the American people”, though the actual gains for the US from its holdings are less than that so far.
When purchased in August, the US stake was worth US$5.7 billion. As yet, a large portion of the government’s ownership is still contingent on future developments. If taxpayers currently owned all of the shares available in a complicated arrangement, the stake would be worth US$27.7 billion. Currently, public ownership stands at a little over US$11 billion.
Spokespeople for Intel pointed to public filings for the US stake. The White House had no immediate comment. BLOOMBERG
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