Why the US government is taking a stake in Intel

Summary

The Trump administration wants the United States to be the dominant force when it comes to artificial intelligence, and one way the administration hopes to achieve primacy is by bringing semiconductor manufacturing back to the U.S. To help with that transition, President Donald Trump has introduced potential chip tariffs and policies in recent months meant to bring more semiconductor manufacturing stateside. In late August, the Trump administration took an unprecedented step toward that goal when it converted an existing government grant, meant for domestic semiconductor manufacturing, into a 10% equity stake in Intel. This deal was structured to grant the U.S. government additional equity in Intel if the company’s ownership of its foundry business — which manufactures custom chips for international customers — drops below 50% within the next five years. But Intel isn’t the only U.S.-based semiconductor company, nor the only one that manufactures its chips overseas. So, how did Intel find itself as the main character in the Trump administration’s plans for AI dominance? Let’s take a look. Chip context First, some history: In March 2021, Intel launched its foundry business alongside a commitment to spend $20 billion building two new chip-manufacturing plants in Arizona. A year later, the company announced its intent to acquire Tower Semiconductor, a company in the custom foundry industry, for $5.4 billion, but that didn’t pan out due to regulatory troubles, and the companies canceled the merger in August 2023. Techcrunch event San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025 Since then, Intel Foundry has struggled to gain momentum and there have been rumors that the business wasn’t able to get large customers on board. In 2024, then-CEO Pat Gelsinger announced Intel was taking steps to transition Intel Foundry into an independent subsidiary. This came as board members called to spin the unit out entirely even as the company grappled with slowing growth, cost cuts, and massive lay...