Intel says US govt stake could hurt sales, White House hints at more deals

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett says that the US could take stakes in other companies within the chip and AI industries.

The transaction, which will give the US government a 10 percent stake in the semiconductor chip giant, could close as soon as Tuesday [File: Richard Drew/AP]

Published On 25 Aug 202525 Aug 2025

The United States government’s 10 percent stake in Intel could harm international sales for the semiconductor chip giant.

The company said in a securities filing on Monday that the new agreement could limit its ability to secure future government grants as White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said that the US could take an equity stake in other companies in the artificial intelligence (AI) and chip industries. That could include Advanced Micro Devices or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.

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Sales outside the US accounted for 76 percent of Intel’s revenue for the fiscal year that ended in December 2024. Though 29 percent of that came from China, the company is pressing on with the deal.

“I think this is a very, very special circumstance because of the massive amount of CHIPS Act spending that was coming Intel’s way,” Hassett told CNBC in an interview on Monday.

“I’m sure that at some point, there’ll be more transactions, if not in this industry, in other industries.”

In the US legislation to which Hassett was referring, CHIPS stands for “Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors”.

Echoing Hassett’s comments, US President Donald Trump said in a post on his social media platform: “I WILL MAKE DEALS LIKE THAT FOR OUR COUNTRY ALL DAY LONG.”

Trump’s deal with the struggling Silicon Valley tech giant came after a meeting with CEO Lip-Bu Tan. Trump had previously demanded his resignation due to his previous investments in Chinese firms.

As part of the looming deal, which is expected to close as early as Tuesday, the US government will buy Intel shares with $5.7bn in unpaid grants from the CHIPS Act passed by President Joe Biden in 2022. A further $3.2bn will be awarded to Intel for the Secure Enclave programme — created by Biden under CHIPS.

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“To the maximum extent permissible under applicable law”, Intel’s obligations under the CHIPS Act will be considered discharged, barring the Secure Enclave programme, according to the securities filing that lays out new risk factors.

The company also said that the shares to be issued to the US government at a discount to the current market price are dilutive to existing stockholders.

The government is purchasing Intel shares at a $4 discount to Intel’s closing stock price of $24.80 on Friday.

The government’s stake also reduces the voting influence of other stockholders, while its substantial additional powers over laws and regulations impacting Intel may limit Intel’s ability to pursue transactions that benefit shareholders, the filing said.

Trump added that “stupid people” are upset by the deal, which he said will bring more jobs and money to the US economy.

But the deal comes on the heels of wide layoffs at Intel. Last month, the company announced that it would cut roughly 25,000 jobs by the end of 2025.

While semiconductors have been exempt from tariffs, because of economic uncertainty, customers have been wary of buying Intel’s products. In late July, Intel reported a 3 percent decline in chip sales for the second quarter compared to the same period last year.

On Wall Street, however, Intel stock is surging — up about 1.2 percent as of 10:15am in New York (14:15 GMT)

Source: News Agencies