It is Intel season these days, with news pouring in hard and fast from every feasible quarter. While SoftBank's new minority stake in Intel captured the narrative overnight, this morning appears to be all about US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, and his insightful comments around a potential US government stake in the struggling chipmaker.
To wit, while speaking on CNBC, Bessent disclosed that the proposed stake in Intel would be largely funded by a conversion of CHIPS Act grants that the company has already received, with a "possible increase" in the quantum of investment also in the cards to "stabilize" the ship.
Do note that Intel has been awarded grants worth $7.9 billion, along with a facility that unlocks an additional $11 billion worth of loans, as part of the CHIPS Act initiative to re-shore semiconductor supply chain. It is also entitled to receive $3 billion under the Pentagon's Secure Enclave program.
We've already reported that the Trump administration is looking to take a 10 percent stake in Intel, which equates to around $10 billion, as per the chipmaker's current market cap.
After accounting for its CHIPS Act grants, the US government might invest an additional $2.1 billion in Intel to round out the ballparked $10 billion investment figure.
Coming back, Bessent has also clarified that "there's no talk of forcing companies to buy from Intel."
This is a much-needed clarification to temper the unbridled euphoria around the proposed Intel-US government deal, with heretofore rampant speculation about a pseudo monopoly that the chipmaker could have feasibly carved out for itself, especially when it came to onshore chip fabrication.
Meanwhile, as we reported overnight, SoftBank has now announced its intention to purchase up to $2 billion worth of Intel common shares in a primary offering. With the deal pricing each share at $23, SoftBank's investment in Intel is likely to amount to 86.956 million shares, rendering it one of the chipmaker's top ten shareholders.
It is this fluidity around Intel that is currently attracting quite a lot of eyeballs, especially in the VC sphere, with terms like "once in a generation" opportunity now being bandied about. Whether this hype will translate into a tangible market opportunity for Intel is, of course, an entirely different question.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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