Intel getting help from Commerce Secretary Raimondo as part of effort to spur U.S. production
Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo listens as President Joe Biden participates virtually in a meeting on the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act at the White House on July 25, 2022.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Intel has been badly beaten down of late, losing 60% of its value this year as it struggles to find its way in the booming artificial intelligence market while aggressively building out fabs in the U.S. The company is turning to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo for help.
In a recent meeting with Raimondo, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger voiced frustration over the heavy reliance that U.S. companies have on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world’s largest contract chipmaker.
Raimondo followed that up with meetings with a handful of public market investors to reinforce the importance of chip manufacturing in the U.S., given the growing geopolitical risk around Taiwan, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the discussions were private. Raimondo’s goal was to urge shareholders in companies like Nvidia and Apple to recognize the economic benefits of having a U.S. foundry that can produce AI chips, the people said.
Intel is currently building out plants in four U.S. states as it seeks to become more of a foundry business, manufacturing chips for other suppliers. Earlier this year, Intel was awarded up to $8.5 billion in CHIPS Act funding from the Biden administration and could receive an additional $11 billion in loans from the legislation, which was passed in 2022.
None of the funds have been distributed yet. A senior government official told CNBC disbursements are expected by the end of the year.
It’s an increasingly important initiative for Intel, which is getting trounced in the market for microprocessors. In addition to losing share in its core PC and data center market to the likes of Advanced Micro Devices, Intel is hardly on the map in AI, where Nvidia is dominant.
Intel’s foundry effort has been stunted by delays, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. TSMC is also building a foundry in Arizona and has faced similar issues.
The U.S. Commerce Department declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for Intel.
Intel’s board is meeting this week to discuss the company’s restructuring plans, including potentially splitting up its design business from its foundry, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Intel CFO David Zinsner told investors at a conference last week that splitting up the businesses made sense.
“What I can predict is we are going to create more separation between these two businesses,” Zinsner said. “It’s important for customers to see that separation.”
In its earnings report last month, Intel reported profit and revenue that trailed analysts’ estimates and said it was cutting 15% of its workforce. After the report, the stock had its worst day in 50 years, falling to its lowest in over a decade.
Nvidia manufactures nearly all of its cutting-edge chips at TSMC, which is also a major manufacturer for AMD, Apple, Amazon,. Google and Broadcom. Concerns have been rising for years that China could invade Taiwan, creating a massive risk for the U.S. chip industry.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang spoke at the Goldman Sachs Communicopia conference on Wednesday and was asked about the geopolitical risk tied to Taiwan and what he would do if something happened.
“In the event that we have to shift from one fab to another, we have the ability to do it,” Huang said, in conversation with Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. “We won’t be able to get the same level of performance or cost, but we will be able to provide the supply.”
Chief executive officer of Google Sundar Pichai.
Marek Antoni Iwanczuk | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Google on Friday made the latest a splash in the AI talent wars, announcing an agreement to bring in Varun Mohan, co-founder and CEO of artificial intelligence coding startup Windsurf.
As part of the deal, Google will also hire other senior Windsurf research and development employees. Google is not investing in Windsurf, but the search giant will take a nonexclusive license to certain Windsurf technology, according to a person familiar with the matter. Windsurf remains free to license its technology to others.
“We’re excited to welcome some top AI coding talent from Windsurf’s team to Google DeepMind to advance our work in agentic coding,” a Google spokesperson wrote in an email. “We’re excited to continue bringing the benefits of Gemini to software developers everywhere.”
The deal between Google and Windsurf comes after the AI coding startup had been in talks with OpenAI for a $3 billion acquisition deal, CNBC reported in April. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move ratchets up the talent war in AI particularly among prominent companies. Meta has made lucrative job offers to several employees at OpenAI in recent weeks. Most notably, the Facebook parent added Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang to lead its AI strategy as part of a $14.3 billion investment into his startup.
Douglas Chen, another Windsurf co-founder, will be among those joining Google in the deal, Jeff Wang, the startup’s new interim CEO and its head of business for the past two years, wrote in a post on X.
“Most of Windsurf’s world-class team will continue to build the Windsurf product with the goal of maximizing its impact in the enterprise,” Wang wrote.
Windsurf has become more popular this year as an option for so-called vibe coding, which is the process of using new age AI tools to write code. Developers and non-developers have embraced the concept, leading to more revenue for Windsurf and competitors, such as Cursor, which OpenAI also looked at buying. All the interest has led investors to assign higher valuations to the startups.
This isn’t the first time Google has hired select people out of a startup. It did the same with Character.AI last summer. Amazon and Microsoft have also absorbed AI talent in this fashion, with the Adept and Inflection deals, respectively.
Microsoft is pushing an agent mode in its Visual Studio Code editor for vibe coding. In April, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said AI is composing as much of 30% of his company’s code.
The Verge reported the Google-Windsurf deal earlier on Friday.
Technology
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang sells more than $36 million in stock, catches Warren Buffett in net worth
Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, holds a motherboard as he speaks during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, on June 11, 2025.
Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unloaded roughly $36.4 million worth of stock in the leading artificial intelligence chipmaker, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The sale, which totals 225,000 shares, comes as part of Huang’s previously adopted plan in March to unload up to 6 million shares of Nvidia through the end of the year. He sold his first batch of stock from the agreement in June, equaling about $15 million.
Last year, the tech executive sold about $700 million worth of shares as part of a prearranged plan. Nvidia stock climbed about 1% Friday.
Huang’s net worth has skyrocketed as investors bet on Nvidia’s AI dominance and graphics processing units powering large language models.
The 62-year-old’s wealth has grown by more than a quarter, or about $29 billion, since the start of 2025 alone, based on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. His net worth last stood at $143 billion in the index, putting him neck-and-neck with Berkshire Hathaway‘s Warren Buffett at $144 billion.
Shortly after the market opened Friday, Fortune‘s analysis of net worth had Huang ahead of Buffett, with the Nvidia CEO at $143.7 billion and the Oracle of Omaha at $142.1 billion.
The company has also achieved its own notable milestones this year, as it prospers off the AI boom.
On Wednesday, the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker became the first company to top a $4 trillion market capitalization, beating out both Microsoft and Apple. The chipmaker closed above that milestone Thursday as CNBC reported that the technology titan met with President Donald Trump.
Brooke Seawell, venture partner at New Enterprise Associates, sold about $24 million worth of Nvidia shares, according to an SEC filing. Seawell has been on the company’s board since 1997, according to the company.
Huang still holds more than 858 million shares of Nvidia, both directly and indirectly, in different partnerships and trusts.
WATCH: Nvidia hits $4 trillion in market cap milestone despite curbs on chip exports
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike