Trump: 'Intel said yes'. The US government enters the capital with 10 per cent

Intel is the first American tech giant to see direct government entry into its capital. Donald Trump announced on Friday evening that negotiations with the company had gone through ('Intel said yes to 10% stake,' the president declared). The US government will acquire a 10% stake in the Californian group, turning some $10 billion from the Chips and Science Act (a legacy of the Biden Administration) into shares in the Santa Clara semiconductor giant. A choice that marks a decisive change of pace with respect to the past: 'We are no longer giving away billions outright,' the White House explained, 'but converting them into shares so that taxpayers get a return.

This is not the first time Washington has entered the capital of a large private group: during the 2008-2009 crisis, the Treasury bailed out banks such as Citigroup and car manufacturers such as GM, becoming their temporary shareholder. But this time the scenario is different: it is above all an industrial geopolitical move, with technology at the forefront of the geopolitical challenge, especially with China.

The market has given its reading of the facts: Intel's share price has gained as much as 7% (closing at +5.60%), bringing the last month's balance to +19.8%. The transaction comes just a few days after the entry of the Japanese holding company SoftBank, which invested USD 2 billion for about 2% of the capital (sixth shareholder). The number one (president and ceo), Masayoshi Son, spoke of a strategic investment, linked to the centrality of chips in artificial intelligence. For Intel, which lost $18.8 billion in 2024 - the first red since 1986 - and closed this year's second quarter with another $2.9 billion loss, this is a double breath of fresh air.

The Malaysian-born CEO Lip-Bu Tan - a long-time venture capitalist and on the board of SoftBank Group until June 2022 - called in to lead the company five months ago after Pat Gelsinger's departure, has launched a drastic restructuring plan: reducing the workforce from 109,000 to 75,000 by the end of this year, halting plans for new factories in Germany and Poland, and rationalising production lines. The most delicate site remains the mega-factory in Ohio, symbol of the American industrial revival but still lagging behind.

With the state becoming a shareholder, the paradigm changes. The non-repayable subsidies of the Biden era give way to capital shares (the state becomes the first shareholder), but without voting rights, but with obvious political significance. And the White House will not stop there: similar arrangements are being studied for critical minerals and artificial intelligence. Last July, the Pentagon became the largest shareholder in MP Materials, the only US producer of rare earths.