Trump buys into Intel power play
Intel chief executive Lip-Bu Tan defended the United States government’s 10 percent ownership stake in the semiconductor manufacturer, comparing the arrangement to Taiwan’s support for TSMC and South Korea’s backing of Samsung Foundry. Tan spoke at the Future Investment Initiative in Saudi Arabia, where he described his meeting with President Trump that led to the federal investment. The executive told Trump about delivering 100-times returns to shareholders at his previous company, Cadence, which impressed the administration.
The government stake strengthened Intel’s financial position and attracted interest from Nvidia and SoftBank, according to Tan. He outlined two main strategies for restoring the company’s market position: expanding into artificial intelligence sectors like physical AI and agentic AI, and committing resources to the foundry business. Tan addressed criticism about past Chinese partnerships by noting that such investments were standard practice among technology firms 10 to 20 years earlier.
