Intel gets thrown a lifeline

For the transactionally minded President Trump, equity trumps grants. The White House on Wednesday confirmed that it’s working on a deal to take a 10 percent stake in Intel instead of awarding US Chips Act subsidies. “We’re not in the business of giving away taxpayer money anymore. We want equity,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explained.

If the investment goes through, it would be the largest direct government intervention in a US technology firm since the 2008 financial crisis, when Washington bailed out General Motors and Chrysler. Back then, the threat was systemic economic collapse. Today, the concern is geopolitical: China’s rise in semiconductor manufacturing, coupled with Taiwan’s vulnerability, has made domestic chip production a matter of national defense.