Trump admin examines equity stakes in other chip makers that received CHIPS Act funds

The Trump administration is exploring the possibility of the government acquiring equity stakes in Intel and other chipmakers in exchange for grants provided under the CHIPS Act, which seeks to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing, Reuters reports citing two sources. This initiative aligns with a broader plan to revitalize U.S. manufacturing, a central priority of the Trump administration. On Tuesday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick revealed that the government is seeking an equity stake in Intel in return for cash grants previously approved under the CHIPS Act, signaling a strategic shift to strengthen U.S. chip production through public-private partnerships.
Andrea Shalal, David Shepardson, Nandita Bose, and Max A. Cherney for Reuters:
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Lutnick wants to expand that plan to other companies, according to a White House official and a person familiar with the situation.
The Trump administration has recently made unusual deals with U.S. companies, including allowing AI chip giant Nvidia to sell its H20 chips to China in exchange for the U.S. government receiving 15% of those sales. The Pentagon is slated to become the largest shareholder in a small mining company to boost output of rare earth magnets.

See also: Apple backs President Trump’s rare earth minerals push, invests $500 million in American mine – July 15, 2025
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Much of the funding under the CHIPS Act has not yet been dispersed for companies such as Micron, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung, and Intel.
The two sources told Reuters on Tuesday that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is also involved in the CHIPS Act discussions, but that Lutnick is driving the process. The Commerce Department oversees the $52.7 billion CHIPS Act money.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed earlier that Lutnick was working on a deal with Intel to take a 10% government stake.
“The president wants to put America’s needs first, both from a national security and economic perspective, and it’s a creative idea that has never been done before,” she told reporters.
Speaking on CNBC, Lutnick said the U.S. wants a return on its “investment”… “We’ll get equity in return for that… instead of just giving grants away… If we’re going to give you the money, we want a piece of the action for the American taxpayer.”
Lutnick’s comments suggested any stake would be non-voting, meaning it would not enable the U.S. government to tell the company how to run its business.

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MacDailyNews Take: Even if some bets don’t pan out, it’s better than just handing out taxpayers’ money to companies for free. Any grants that do generate revenue will return something instead of nothing for the investor, which is, in these cases, the American taxpayer.
By just handing out taxpayers’ money with no strings attached, the American taxpayer foots the bill for each company involved with no hope of any returns ever. Why was it ever that way? Just an endless string of bad deals made by people who were supposed to be stewards of taxpayer’s money, yet thought of it as their own.
Let us never forget this fundamental truth. The state has no source of money other than the money people earn themselves… There is no such thing as public money, there is only taxpayers’ money. – Margaret Thatcher
This way, if a company uses American taxpayers’ money to generate profits, the taxpayers get returns on their investments.
That said, the United States of America isn’t communist China, so any stake the government takes on behalf of American taxpayers MUST ALWAYS be non-voting.
Finally, some companies are too far gone and are just meant to die. Yes, we’re talking about Intel whose ex-CEO Paul Ottelini made a potentially fatal decision not to take up Steve Jobs on his offer to develop the microprocessor for the original iPhone. One big mistake like that can take down a company. Intel is an also-ran today. Propping up such companies with American taxpayers’ money only prolongs the inevitable.
Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. – Steve Jobs

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