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Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Intel, departs the White House in Washington, DC, U.S., on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025.

Alex Wroblewski | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The Trump administration is discussing taking a 10% stake in Intel, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, in a deal that could see the U.S. government become the chipmaker’s largest stakeholder.

As part of a potential deal, the government is also considering converting some or all of Intel’s grants from the 2022 U.S. CHIPS and Science Act into equity in the company, the report said, citing a White House official and other people familiar with the matter.

At the embattled chipmaker’s current market value, a 10% stake would be worth roughly $10.4 billion. Meanwhile, Intel has been awarded about $10.9 billion in Chips Act grants, including $7.9 billion for commercial manufacturing and $3 billion for national security projects.

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Intel investors had initially welcomed news of the government investment, which resulted in a share rally of nearly 9% on Aug. 14.

The report noted, however, that it remains unclear if the idea has gained traction broadly within the administration or whether officials have broached the possibility with affected companies.

It added that the exact size of the stake remains in flux, and it remains unclear whether the White House will actually proceed with the plan. Intel and the White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s queries regarding the report. 

Intel, once a dominant force in the U.S. chip industry, has fallen behind global competitors in advanced chip manufacturing. Reviving the former U.S. chip champion has become a national priority in Washington, with reports about a potential government stake in the company first circulating last week.

The company has been the largest recipient of the 2022 Chips Act, passed with bipartisan support under the Biden administration, as part of efforts by Washington to revitalize U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing.

The bill allocated $39 billion in grants for American semiconductor manufacturing projects, with funding committed to many of the world’s chipmakers such as TSMC and Samsung, as well as American chip companies such as Nvidia, Micron and GlobalFoundries. 

U.S. President Donald Trump, though supporting the general goals of the Chips Act, has been a vocal critic of the bill and even called for its repeal earlier this year. While republican lawmakers in Washington have been reluctant to act on that call, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in June that the administration was renegotiating some of the bill’s grants. 

If Intel’s Chip Act funds were to be converted into a potential government stake in the company, it could decrease the total amount of capital infused into the company as part of any deal by Washington. 

However, it would serve as the latest example of the Trump administration’s interest in building government-backed national champions in strategic industries.

Intel has struggled to gain an advantage in the artificial intelligence boom and has yet to capture a significant customer for its manufacturing business despite spending heavily on it. 

Some analysts have argued that government intervention is essential for the struggling chipmaker and for the sake of U.S. national security. Others contend that Intel’s problems are deeper than funding, and it is not clear how the government can help with that. 

Analysts have also noted that Trump may be able to sway companies to buy Intel chips or assist indirectly, through tariffs and regulation.

On Tuesday, it was announced that SoftBank was investing $2 billion in Intel. According to LSEG, the investment is worth about 2% of Intel, making SoftBank the fifth-biggest shareholder. Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group, said: “This strategic investment reflects our belief that advanced semiconductor manufacturing and supply will further expand in the United States, with Intel playing a critical role.”

Intel investors had initially welcomed news of the government investment, which resulted in a share rally of nearly 9% on Aug. 14. Shares of Intel fell over 3% on Monday on the Bloomberg report, but rebounded by more than 5% in overnight trading on the trading platform Robinhood following news of a Softbank investment.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who was appointed in March 2025, met with Trump at the White House last week, after the U.S. president had called for his ousting due to his past ties to China. 

After the meeting, Trump had changed his tune on the Intel chief, saying he had “an amazing story.” It’s unclear if a potential government stake in the company had been discussed at the time.

Read the full Bloomberg story here.

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CNBC Daily Open: A chance for peace in the Middle East and the U.S.-China trade war

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CNBC Daily Open: A chance for peace in the Middle East and the U.S.-China trade war

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he poses next to a sign before a family photo at a world leaders’ summit on ending the Gaza war, amid a U.S.-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Oct. 13, 2025.

Suzanne Plunkett | Reuters

This might not be Christmas, but the war in the Middle East is over — at least according to U.S. President Donald Trump.

On Monday, Trump declared at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, that the “long and painful nightmare” was finally over for both the Israelis and Palestinians. More straightforwardly, Trump gave an unequivocal “yes” when asked by reporters if the war in the Middle East has ended, Reuters reported.

A similarly hopeful mood permeated markets, though for different reasons. After hitting China with 100% additional tariffs and triggering a sell-off on Friday, Trump appeared to walk back his stance, posting on Truth Social that “it will all be fine” with China.

And thus was TACO back on traders’ menus: Major U.S. stock indexes rebounded, with technology stocks leading the charge. Quantum computing names popped after JPMorgan Chase announced it will be investing $10 billion in sectors crucial to national interests.

Broadcom, meanwhile, surged almost 10% after it jointly announced a partnership with — who else? — OpenAI to build and deploy custom chips. But where this puts Nvidia, OpenAI’s other near and dear one, and on whose chips the ChatGPT maker relies, remains a question.

Though Christmas has yet to arrive, OpenAI is starting to look like the tech sector’s Santa Claus, who has his sack full of presents — and, more importantly, cash, according to Oracle.

— CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.

What you need to know today

And finally…

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Argentina’s President Javier Milei during the 80th United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, New York, U.S., Sept. 23, 2025.

Alexander Drago | Reuters

The U.S. has stepped in with an extraordinary bailout of Argentina. Here’s what it means

In a move that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Thursday on social media site X, the U.S. is providing a $20 billion currency swap line with Argentina’s central bank — essentially exchanging stable U.S. dollars with volatile pesos.

The move comes amid liquidity concerns in Argentina that threatened stability for the country as it faces key midterm elections. There are equal parts economic and political stakes with the venture, which marks the first U.S. intervention of this nature since rescuing Mexico in 1995.

Jeff Cox

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Google to invest $15 billion to build data center hub in India; largest outside of the U.S.

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Google to invest  billion to build data center hub in India; largest outside of the U.S.

Prakash Singh | AFP | Getty Images

Google will invest $15 billion to build data center capacity for a new artificial intelligence hub in southern India, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian announced at an event Tuesday.

The investment will roll out over the next five years, and will be Google’s largest AI hub in the world outside of the U.S, Kurian added.

Earlier on Monday, the Minister for Human Resources Development of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, Nara Lokesh, put the 1-gigawatt project at $10 billion. 

The deal comes after “a year of intense discussions and relentless effort,” and “is just the beginning,” Lokesh said in a post on the social media platform X. 

The Indian outlet Economic Times previously reported that the investment would be made by Google’s Indian subsidiary Raiden Infotech, which plans to develop three campuses across the city of Visakhapatnam.

According to another report from ET on Tuesday, state officials planned to continue doubling down on such projects and to significantly scale up the state’s computing capacity over the next three years.

Companies are amping up investments in infrastructure to keep pace with surging global demand for cloud services as AI services become increasingly popular.

As part of its second-quarter earnings in July, Google increased its forecast for capital expenditures in 2025 to $85 billion, up from $75 billion in February, due to “strong and growing demand for our Cloud products and services.”

That same month, the company also announced plans to invest $25 billion in data center and artificial intelligence infrastructure over the next two years in states across the biggest electric grid in the U.S.

India is increasingly attracting multinational players, such as Microsoft and AWS, to invest in the country’s cloud and AI infrastructure.

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CNBC Daily Open: There’s a hopeful mood in the Middle East and the markets

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CNBC Daily Open: There's a hopeful mood in the Middle East and the markets

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks while World leaders listen during a summit of European and Middle Eastern leaders on Gaza on October 13, 2025 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

This might not be Christmas, but the war in the Middle East is over — at least according to U.S. President Donald Trump.

On Monday, Trump declared at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, that the “long and painful nightmare” was finally over for both the Israelis and Palestinians. More straightforwardly, Trump gave an unequivocal “yes” when asked by reporters if the war in the Middle East has ended, Reuters reported.

A similarly hopeful mood permeated markets, though for different reasons. After hitting China with 100% additional tariffs and triggering a sell-off on Friday, Trump appeared to walk back his stance, posting on Truth Social that “it will all be fine” with China.

And thus was TACO back on traders’ menus: Major U.S. stock indexes rebounded, with technology stocks leading the charge. Quantum computing names popped after JPMorgan Chase announced it will be investing $10 billion in sectors crucial to national interests.

Broadcom, meanwhile, surged almost 10% after it jointly announced a partnership with — who else? — OpenAI to build and deploy custom chips. But where this puts Nvidia, OpenAI’s other near and dear one, and on whose chips the ChatGPT maker relies, remains a question.

Though Christmas has yet to arrive, OpenAI is starting to look like the tech sector’s Santa Claus.

— CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.

What you need to know today

War in the Middle East is over, Trump says. At Israel’s parliament, Trump gave a speech in which he said that the “long and painful nightmare” for both the Israelis and Palestinians was over. He also urged, at a separate event, for leaders to put “old feuds” behind.

Broadcom joins the OpenAI party. The two companies announced Monday that they’re planning to develop and deploy OpenAI-designed chips, amounting to 10 gigawatts, starting late next year. Shares of Broadcom popped almost 10% on the news.

JPMorgan says it will invest $10 billion in critical industries. The four areas of focus — which the bank considers crucial to U.S. security — are: defense and aerospace, “frontier” technologies such as AI, energy technology and supply chain and advanced manufacturing.

Stocks claw back some losses. On Monday stateside, major U.S. stock indexes rose, rebounding from Friday’s carnage. The S&P 500 regained 56% of Friday’s decline. Europe’s Stoxx 600 index climbed 0.44%, lifted by mining stocks.

[PRO] European sectors less affected by trade war. The continent isn’t in the crosshairs of Trump’s latest tariffs, but a weakening U.S. dollar could affect Europe’s exports. UBS picks three sectors more shielded from that — leaving out a notable one.

And finally…

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Argentina’s President Javier Milei during the 80th United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, New York, U.S., Sept. 23, 2025.

Alexander Drago | Reuters

The U.S. has stepped in with an extraordinary bailout of Argentina. Here’s what it means

In a move that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Thursday on social media site X, the U.S. is providing a $20 billion currency swap line with Argentina’s central bank — essentially exchanging stable U.S. dollars with volatile pesos.

The move comes amid liquidity concerns in Argentina that threatened stability for the country as it faces key midterm elections. There are equal parts economic and political stakes with the venture, which marks the first U.S. intervention of this nature since rescuing Mexico in 1995.

Jeff Cox

Continue Reading

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