Overview

• Talks are ongoing and no agreement has been finalized, with a White House spokesman saying no deal is official until the administration announces one.
• A roughly 10% holding would cost about $10–$10.5 billion and aligns with Intel’s $10.9 billion in CHIPS Act grants; Intel shares fell about 3.6% to 5.5% after the report.
• Converting milestone-based CHIPS funding into equity would accelerate the timeline of payments and could make the government Intel’s largest shareholder at the contemplated size.
• SoftBank confirmed a $2 billion primary purchase of Intel stock at $23 per share, equating to just under 2% and a top-10 stake, and Intel rose roughly 5% in after-hours trading.
• Analysts warn U.S. backing could steer orders toward Intel and pressure TSMC and Samsung, and officials have floated applying similar equity conversions to other CHIPS awards.