Intel gets $5.7 billion from Trump deal as White House says details are ‘being ironed out’
Intel CFO David Zinser said that the semiconductor giant received $5.7 billion from the U.S. government on Wednesday evening.
Zinsner acknowledged the investment on Thursday during an investor conference. The investment is part of the White House’s decision last Friday to take a 10% stake in the beleaguered computer chip company.
Zinser also signaled the possibility that Intel seeks outside investment for its foundry business.
The company reported better-than-expected second-quarter results on July 25, but its shares sank 8% due to concerns over the business of its foundry unit, which manufactures computer chips for other firms.
“There’s likely going to be some opportunity for outside investors in foundry, and that will probably be our second opportunity to raise cash to fund the growth on the foundry side,” Zinser said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the Intel deal is still “being ironed out by the Department of Commerce.”
“The T’s are still being crossed, the I’s are still being dotted,” Leavitt said. “It’s very much still under discussion.”
Intel released a corporate filing on Monday in which it warned that the deal with the U.S. government could generate “adverse reactions” from investors, employees and others.
“There could be adverse reactions, immediately or over time, from investors, employees, customers, suppliers, other business or commercial partners, foreign governments or competitors,” the filing said. “There may also be litigation related to the transaction or otherwise and increased public or political scrutiny with respect to the Company.”
WATCH: Intel CFO: Received $5.7 billion in cash from U.S. government last night.
Technology
Figure AI sued by whistleblower who warned that startup’s robots could ‘fracture a human skull’
Startup Figure AI is developing general-purpose humanoid robots.
Figure AI
Figure AI, an Nvidia-backed developer of humanoid robots, was sued by the startup’s former head of product safety who alleged that he was wrongfully terminated after warning top executives that the company’s robots “were powerful enough to fracture a human skull.”
Robert Gruendel, a principal robotic safety engineer, is the plaintiff in the suit filed Friday in a federal court in the Northern District of California. Gruendel’s attorneys describe their client as a whistleblower who was fired in September, days after lodging his “most direct and documented safety complaints.”
The suit lands two months after Figure was valued at $39 billion in a funding round led by Parkway Venture Capital. That’s a 15-fold increase in valuation from early 2024, when the company raised a round from investors including Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, and Microsoft.
In the complaint, Gruendel’s lawyers say the plaintiff warned Figure CEO Brett Adcock and Kyle Edelberg, chief engineer, about the robot’s lethal capabilities, and said one “had already carved a ¼-inch gash into a steel refrigerator door during a malfunction.”
The complaint also says Gruendel warned company leaders not to “downgrade” a “safety road map” that he had been asked to present to two prospective investors who ended up funding the company.
Gruendel worried that a “product safety plan which contributed to their decision to invest” had been “gutted” the same month Figure closed the investment round, a move that “could be interpreted as fraudulent,” the suit says.
The plaintiff’s concerns were “treated as obstacles, not obligations,” and the company cited a “vague ‘change in business direction’ as the pretext” for his termination, according to the suit.
Gruendel is seeking economic, compensatory and punitive damages and demanding a jury trial.
Figure didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Nor did attorneys for Gruendel.
The humanoid robot market remains nascent today, with companies like Tesla and Boston Dynamics pursuing futuristic offerings, alongside Figure, while China’s Unitree Robotics is preparing for an IPO. Morgan Stanley said in a report in May that adoption is “likely to accelerate in the 2030s” and could top $5 trillion by 2050.
Read the filing here:
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