Intel stock rises on report Trump administration stake in chipmaker

Intel shares rose about 6% on Friday after Bloomberg reported that the Trump administration is poised to announce that the U.S. government will take an equity stake in the struggling chipmaker.

Following the report, President Donald Trump said the government should get about 10% of the company, which has a market cap of just over $100 billion.  

“They’ve agreed to do it and I think it’s a great deal for them,” Trump told reporters Friday at the White House

White House official told CNBC that there will be “ongoing discussions” with Intel, adding that nothing has been decided yet and that Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan hasn’t explicitly agreed to a deal. President Trump and Tan will be meeting later this afternoon.

A representative for Intel declined to comment.

The move would mark the latest example of a distinct shift in U.S. industrial policy, with the government taking an active role in the corporate America. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC this week that the U.S. government was seeking an equity stake in Intel in exchange for CHIPS Act funds.

“We should get an equity stake for our money,” Lutnick said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” “So we’ll deliver the money, which was already committed under the Biden administration. We’ll get equity in return for it.”

Lutnick said that the government’s stake would be “nonvoting.”

Earlier this week, Intel announced another major backer, when SoftBank said it would make a $2 billion investment in the chipmaker, equal to about 2% of the company.

Intel is the only American company capable of making the most advanced chips on U.S. shores, although its technology is seen as lagging Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which makes chips for companies including Apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm, AMD, and even Intel.

Intel has been spending billions of dollars to build a series of chip factories in Ohio, an area the company previously called the “Silicon Heartland,” where Intel would be able to produce the most advanced chips, including for AI.

But in July, Tan said in a memo to employees that there would be “no more blank checks,” and that it was slowing down the construction of its Ohio factory complex, depending on market conditions. Intel’s Ohio factory is now scheduled to start operations in 2030.

Intel said last fall that it had finalized a nearly $8 billion grant under the CHIPS and Science Act to fund its factory-building plans. The CHIPS Act was passed in 2022, under the Biden administration.

— CNBC’s David Sucherman contributed to this report.

WATCH: President Trump says Intel should transfer 10% of company to government