Filenews 20 August 2025
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that a potential U.S. government investment in Intel would be aimed at helping the chipmaker stabilize, Reuters reported.
Asked about reports that the U.S. government is considering buying a 10 percent stake in the company, Bessent told CNBC that "the stake will be a conversion of subsidies and possibly an increase in investment in Intel to help the company stabilize for chip production here in the U.S."
Bessent did not give further details on the size or timing of the investment in Intel, but clarified that the goal would not be to force U.S. companies to buy chips from Intel.
His statements come a day after the agreement with the Japanese SoftBank Group for an investment of 2 billion dollars to the American company.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik said on a different CNBC program that the previous Biden administration gave grants with no return on investment, adding that President Trump wants to change that.
"The Biden administration was actually giving Intel a bunch of money and giving TSMC a bunch of money and all these companies were getting money, and Donald Trump changed that, saying 'we want stock shares for the money. If we're going to give you money, we want some of the action for the American taxpayer.'"
