Trump weighs taking stake in Intel, Bloomberg News reports

By Jaspreet Singh and Mrinalika Roy

(Reuters) -The Trump administration is in talks with Intel to have the U.S. government potentially take a stake in the struggling chipmaker, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the plan.

Such a move would mark another intervention by U.S. President Donald Trump in industries seen as vital to national security. Trump has pushed for multibillion-dollar government tie-ups in semiconductors and rare earths - for instance, a pay-for-play deal with Nvidia and an arrangement with rare-earth producer MP Materials to secure critical minerals.

Intel declined to comment on the report but said it was deeply committed to supporting Trump's efforts to strengthen U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership. White House spokesman Kush Desai said: "Discussion about hypothetical deals should be regarded as speculation unless officially announced by the administration."

Intel's shares surged over 7% in regular trading and then another 2.6% after the bell. The discussions follow a meeting this week between Trump and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan. That meeting came days after Trump publicly demanded that Tan resign over his investments in Chinese tech companies, some linked to the Chinese military.

Details of the stake and price are still being discussed, Bloomberg said.

Ryuta Makino, an analyst at Intel investor Gabelli Funds, said it was likely that the U.S. government would take a stake in Intel because Trump wants the chipmaker to expand domestic manufacturing and to create more jobs.

Intel warned last month that it may have to get out of the chip manufacturing business if it does not land external customers to make chips in its factories. It planned to slow construction work on new factories in Ohio.

Tan, who took the top job just over six months back, has been tasked to undo years of missteps that left Intel struggling to make inroads in the booming AI chip industry dominated by Nvidia, while investment-heavy contract manufacturing ambitions led to heavy losses.

"I think any deal that involves the U.S., as well as third-party investors (PE) likely has to come with tariffs that strongly encourage customers like Nvidia, AMD, Apple to use Intel Foundry," said Ben Bajarin, CEO of market analysis firm Creative Strategies.

It is not unusual for the U.S. government to take a stake in a company, but those have usually needed financial help. Though Intel's stock market value has tumbled in recent years and it has lost its industry leadership, its revenue remains stable at over $50 billion a year, and it was not clear to some investors that the chipmaker needs such direct government assistance.   

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh and Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Sayantani Ghosh; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Diane Craft)