Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the government is in talks to take a 10% stake in Intel and may pursue similar deals, while clarifying that firms like TSMC and Micron expanding U.S. operations would not be targeted.
The Trump administration is weighing equity stakes in some companies receiving CHIPS Act subsidies but was not mulling investment in some big companies that have committed to expanding their U.S. operations.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC the government is in talks to take a 10% stake in Intel and may pursue similar deals elsewhere.
This gave rise to speculation that the Trump administration might invest in other major global chipmakers such as Taiwanese foundry TSMC (TSM), U.S. memory chipmaker Micron Technology (MU) and South Korean electronics giant Samsung.
A Wall Street Journal report, citing a government official, said the U.S. may not be looking at investments across the sector.
The administration last month took a 15% stake in rare-earth producer MP Materials(MP) and has ordered chipmakers Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices to give the government 15% of their China sales.
Trump has also pledged tariff exemptions for companies that increase U.S. investment.
The Journal said TSMC, which was awarded up to $6.6 billion for its Arizona plant that began production in 2024, has discussed returning subsidies if the U.S. sought an equity stake.
Lutnick has pressed grant recipients to raise U.S. spending, including Intel, which is negotiating whether part of its CHIPS funding could be converted into equity. Trump has also clashed with Intel leadership, urging CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign over China ties.
First introduced during Trump’s earlier term, the Chips Act authorized tens of billions to boost U.S. semiconductor production but has been slowed by tariff disputes and implementation delays.
Any equity deals could face legal challenges since the law already requires profit-sharing above certain thresholds.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment was ‘bullish’ for Nvidia with ‘normal’ message volume, while sentiment for Advanced Micro Devices was ‘bearish’ with ‘low’ message volume.
Nvidia’s stock has risen 30.3% so far in 2025, while Advanced Micro Devices’ stock has jumped 35.5% over the same period.
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