Overview

• Internal discussions are exploring converting roughly $10.5 billion in CHIPS subsidies into a direct equity stake in Intel, but no formal decision has been announced.
• The plan would draw on about $10.9 billion already allocated to Intel under the CHIPS and Science Act as the practical funding source for the proposed 10 percent holding.
• Turning grants into federal ownership would represent an unprecedented shift in U.S. industrial policy toward activist intervention in the semiconductor sector.
• Intel’s recent performance has been undermined by a 60 percent share collapse in 2024, a $19 billion loss and multiple delays to its Ohio megafab project.
• The proposal has driven volatile trading in Intel stock and prompted legal, governance and national security questions over a federal stake in the chipmaker.