The U.S. government and SoftBank Group are bullish on Intel Corp.
Hours after SoftBank Group said it had bought $2 billion in Intel stock, a report surfaced that the Trump administration is in talks with the ailing chip maker for a $10.5 billion investment.
Citing sources, Bloomberg reported the federal government is mulling a 10% stake in the company, or around $10.5 billion, based on its market value. One option, according to the report, would convert grants awarded under the CHIPS and Science Act (2022) into equity.
SoftBank’s investment comes as new Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan scales back the comeback plans of his successor, Pat Gelsinger. Tan has delayed the company’s $20 billion Ohio chip complex and dropped plans for construction of international plants.
“We are very pleased to deepen our relationship with SoftBank, a company that’s at the forefront of so many areas of emerging technology and innovation and shares our commitment to advancing U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership,” Tan said in a statement.
Daniel Newman, CEO of The Futurum Group, said SoftBank’s action “further reiterates Intel will be making chips for Arm. Arm will need capacity for its (artificial intelligence) chips. Win for Intel, Arm, and SoftBank.”
Intel suffered an annual loss of $18.8 billion in 2024, its first such loss since 1986.
While rivals NVIDIA Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. have flourished during the AI boom, Intel has badly lagged, prompting the scorn of President Donald Trump. The White House wants Intel to follow through on plans to open its Ohio plant after repeated delays amid a larger push to boost U.S. manufacturing of key tech products and components such as semiconductors and AI data centers.
On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said any U.S. investment in Intel would be intended to help stabilize the troubled chipmaker. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the government wanted equity stakes in exchange for its support of semiconductor manufacturers.
Intel had no comment.
A government stake in Intel could serve as a model for other investments by the administration, which has been weighing opportunities to take similar stakes in various American companies in critical industries, according to a CNN report.
Last week, Tan met with Trump after the president called for his resignation over Tan’s ties to China. After the meeting, Trump said Tan’s “success and rise is an amazing story.” The president added that he expected Intel and his cabinet members to bring him “suggestions” in the coming days.
Intel called the meeting “candid and constructive” and reiterated its commitment to “strengthening U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership.”
