Lutnick: “We should get equity for our money” in Intel
U.S. Commerce Secretary signals shift from subsidies to ownership stakes.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday that the government wants an equity stake in Intel in exchange for cash grants that were approved during the administration of former President Joe Biden.
Separately, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said any U.S. investment in Intel would be aimed at helping the struggling chipmaker stabilize.
Asked about reports that the U.S. was considering taking a 10% stake in Intel, Bessent told CNBC's Squawk Box: “The stake would be a conversion of the grants, and maybe an increase in the investment into Intel, to help stabilize the company for chip production here in the U.S.”
Bessent gave no details about the size or timing of a U.S. stake in Intel but said any investment would not be aimed at forcing American companies to buy chips from Intel.
His comments marked the first official response from the Trump administration after Bloomberg News reported on Monday that the U.S. government is in talks to take a 10% stake in exchange for $7.9 billion in grants that were approved for the company during the Biden administration.
“We should get an equity stake for our money,” Lutnick told CNBC. “We’ll get equity in return for that … instead of just giving grants away.”
Lutnick stressed that the U.S. does not want control of Intel. “It’s not governance, we are just converting what was a grant under Biden into equity for the Trump administration, for the American people.” He suggested any stake would be “non-voting,” meaning it would not allow the government to dictate how Intel is run.
His remarks came a day after SoftBank Group agreed to invest $2 billion in Intel, which has struggled to recover from years of management missteps.
“The Biden administration literally was giving Intel money for free and giving TSMC money for free, and Donald Trump turned it into saying, ‘Hey, if we’re going to give you the money, we want a piece of the action for the American taxpayer,’” Lutnick said.
Intel and TSMC, the Taiwan-based chipmaker, did not immediately comment.
Intel reported a $18.8 billion annual loss in 2024, its first yearly loss since 1986.
