The Trump administration is reportedly discussing acquiring a 10% stake in U.S. chipmaker Intel (INTC), Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing a White House official and other people familiar with the matter. Reports say the federal government is considering a potential investment in Intel that could convert some or all of the funding the company received from the American Chip and Science Act into equity.
Trump took an unprecedented approach to national security when he met with Intel CEO Chen Liwu on August 11.
He has pushed for multibillion-dollar partnerships between the government and the semiconductor and rare earth industries, such as a "pay-for-performance" deal with Nvidia (NVDA) and a deal with rare earth producer MP Materials to secure supplies of critical minerals.
Chen Liwu took over as CEO just six months ago and is tasked with turning around Intel's decline.
Analysts said the federal support could give Intel more breathing room to revive its loss-making foundry business, but the company still faces challenges such as a weak product roadmap and difficulty attracting customers to new factories.