Connect with us

Published

on

SpaceX, Twitter and electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk with France’s President Emmanuel Macron (L) at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on May 15, 2023. France has been looking to woo Musk and Tesla to set up a factory in the country.

Michel Euler | AFP | Getty Images

PARIS — France is trying to convince Elon Musk to build Tesla’s next Gigafactory in the country, the nation’s digital minister told CNBC on Wednesday, in the most explicit comments yet that Paris wants the billionaire’s investment.

The courtship comes just as the minister threatened the Musk-owned Twitter with a ban, if it does not comply with upcoming European Union regulation.

“It will be great to have a Tesla factory in France, there has been a lot of effort and energy to make sure this is possible and this can happen,” Jean-Noel Barrot told CNBC’s Charlotte Reed at the Viva Tech conference in Paris.

France has been looking to boost its position as a hub for the electric car industry, opening its first electric car battery factory this year.

“We have also invested in an … entire sector of electric batteries so we will try to convince him that France is the best possible place in Europe to establish the next Tesla factory,” Barrot said.

Musk is expected to speak in Paris on Friday at the Viva Tech summit — one of France’s flagship technology conferences, where the government will have a large presence. Musk has been on the hunt for a new Gigafactory location, in addition to the company’s major car manufacturing plants already present in the U.S., Germany and China.

Barrot praised Musk as a “great inventor, probably one of the greatest of the beginning of this century.”

Musk’s Twitter could face EU ban

Barrot’s attempt to woo Tesla sharply contrasted his fiery words for the billionaire in relation to Twitter.

The minister last month said the social media app would be banned in the EU, if it did not follow the bloc’s upcoming Digital Services Act that goes into effect in August. The law will force tech giants, including Twitter, to police illegal content and disinformation on their platforms more aggressively, or risk potential multibillion-dollar fines.

“There will be huge scrutiny by the EU commission … on the actions Twitter is going to take to meet these new obligations. If Twitter fails to comply with these obligations , Twitter will face sanctions of up to 6% of global sales … In case those failures to comply are not … corrected, they will face an obligation to leave the EU”

“In the past couple of weeks, what we’ve seen is not reassuring as to the ability of Twitter to comply with these new rules,” Barrot added without specifying what aspects of Twitter policy are not reassuring.

Continue Reading

Technology

Government’s Intel intervention is ‘essential’ for national security, tech analyst says

Published

on

By

Government's Intel intervention is 'essential' for national security, tech analyst says

It's 'essential' for the Trump administration to take a stake in Intel: D.A. Davidson's Gil Luria

A government intervention in struggling chipmaker Intel is “essential” for the sake of national security, analyst Gil Luria said Friday, following a report that the Trump administration is weighing taking a stake in the company.

“We’re all capitalists,” Luria, head of technology research at D.A. Davidson, said in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “We don’t want government to intervene and own private enterprise, but this is national security.”

Bloomberg reported Thursday that the Trump administration is considering having the U.S. government take a stake in Intel. The news sent Intel shares higher, and the stock climbed again Friday.

Intel previously declined to comment on the report.

Luria said such a deal is needed to revive Intel and reduce the country’s reliance on companies like Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor to manufacture chips. President Donald Trump has called for more chips and high-end technology to be made in the U.S.

Read more CNBC tech news

How the White House could structure such an intervention is still in question. Bloomberg reported Friday that the administration has discussed using funds from the CHIPS Act.

Intel received $7.9 billion from the Department of Commerce through the CHIPS Act, and it was awarded roughly $3 billion under the CHIPS Act for the Pentagon’s Secure Enclave program.

“Intel has had many opportunities over decades to get it right, and it hasn’t. So we need to intervene,” Luria said. “The government’s going to come in and it’s going to give Intel unfair advantages, and if it’s going to do that, it wants a piece of the business.”

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan met with Trump at the White House on Monday after the president called for his resignation based on allegations that he has ties to China.

Luria pointed to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s comments that the rise of superintelligent AI could be “the next wave of nuclear proliferation,” as evidence that direct intervention by the government is needed.

“We can’t rely on somebody else making shell casings for our nuclear arsenal,” Luria said. “We have to get it right.”

'Fast Money' traders react to the Trump admin possibly taking a stake in Intel

Continue Reading

Technology

Applied Materials shares sink 10% on light forecast amid macroeconomic uncertainties

Published

on

By

Applied Materials shares sink 10% on light forecast amid macroeconomic uncertainties

The Applied Materials logo on Dec. 17, 2024.

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Applied Materials shares sank more than 10% in extended trading Thursday as the semiconductor equipment company provided outlook for the current quarter that came in light.

Here’s how Applied Materials did in its third-quarter earnings results versus LSEG consensus estimates:

  • EPS: $2.48, adjusted, versus $2.36 estimated.
  • Revenue: $7.3 billion vs $7.22 billion estimated.

Applied Materials said it expects $2.11 per share in adjusted earnings in the current quarter, lower than LSEG estimates of $2.39 per share. The company said to expect $6.7 billion in revenue, versus $7.34 billion estimated.

CEO Gary Dickerson said that the current macroeconomic and policy environment is “creating increased uncertainty and lower visibility.” He said the company’s China business is particularly effected by the uncertainty.

The Trump administration’s tariffs could double the price of imported chips unless companies buying them commit to building in the U.S. Applied Materials makes tools for chip foundries to physically make chips, much of which currently happens in Asia.

Applied Materials said that it has a large backlog of pending export license applications with the U.S. government, but that it’s assuming none of them will be issued in the next quarter.

“We are expecting a decline in revenue in the fourth quarter driven by both digestion of capacity in China and non-linear demand from leading-edge customers given market concentration and fab timing,” the company’s finance chief said in a statement. He added that it expected lower China business to continue for several more quarters.

Applied Materials reported $1.78 billion in net income, or $2.22 per diluted share in the quarter, versus $1.71 billion or $2.05 in the year-ago period.

The company’s most important division, semiconductor systems, reported $5.43 billion in sales, topping estimates, and representing a 10% rise from last year.

Applied Materials was praised by President Donald Trump earlier this month after it was included in an Apple program to make more chips in the U.S.

Apple said it would partner with the chipmaker to produce more manufacturing equipment in Austin, Texas.

WATCH: Apple and Trump detail $100 billion U.S. spending expansion: Here’s what to know

Apple and Trump detail $100 billion U.S. spending expansion: Here's what to know

Continue Reading

Technology

Intel stock climbs 7% on report Trump administration is considering stake in chipmaker

Published

on

By

Intel stock climbs 7% on report Trump administration is considering stake in chipmaker

Lip-Bu Tan, chief executive officer of Intel Corp., departs following a meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025.

Alex Wroblewski | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Intel shares rose 7% on Thursday after Bloomberg reported that the Trump administration is in talks with the chipmaker to have the U.S. government take a stake in the struggling company.

Intel is the only U.S. company with the capability to manufacture the fastest chips on U.S. shores, although rivals including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Samsung also have U.S. factories. President Donald Trump has called for more chips and high technology to be manufactured in the U.S.

The government’s stake would help fund factories that Intel is currently building in Ohio, according to the report.

Earlier this week, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan visited Trump in the White House, a meeting that took place after the president had called for Tan’s resignation based on allegations he has ties to China.

Intel said at the time that Tan is “deeply committed to advancing U.S. national and economic security interests.” An Intel representative declined to comment about reports that the government is considering taking a stake in the company.

“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 said.

Tan took over Intel earlier this year after the chipmaker failed to gain significant share in artificial intelligence chips, while it was spending heavily to build its foundry business, which manufactures chips for other companies.

Intel’s foundry business has yet to secure a major customer, which would be a critical step in moving towards expansion and giving other potential customers the confidence to turn to Intel for manufacturing.

In July, Tan said that Intel was canceling plans for manufacturing sites in Germany and Poland and would slow down development in Ohio, adding that spending at the chipmaker would be closely scrutinized.

Under Trump, the U.S. government has increasingly moved to put itself at the center of deals in major industries. Last week, it said it would take 15% of certain Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices chip sales to China. The Pentagon bought a $400 million equity stake in rare-earth miner MP Materials. It also took a “golden share” in U.S. Steel as part of a deal to allow Nippon Steel to buy the U.S. industrial giant.

Intel shares are now up 19% this year after losing 60% of their value in 2024, the worst year on record for the chipmaker.

WATCH: Trump decision to allow chip sales to China is ‘reverse tariff’

Trump's decision to allow chip sales to China is 'reverse tariff' and we could see more such deals

Continue Reading

Trending