Intel's fortunes have been in flux for the past five years, forcing the CEO to be fired and replaced by Lip Bu Tan, a Johor native. Tan has taken various steps to stabilize the company, but all of them have fizzled out after President Trump called for his dismissal. But Intel's future looks brighter this week following the $2 billion investment received from Softbank.
Softbank's investment in Intel is in the form of a stock purchase. With this, Intel and Softbank will increase their commitment to investing in semiconductor technology and innovation in the United States.
This announcement has revived hopes that Intel and Softbank's collaboration to develop AI chips to compete with NVIDIA will resume. A year ago, this AI chip project was canceled because Intel failed to achieve the speed and production capacity for the chip.
Meanwhile, according to a Bloomberg report, the United States government wants to hold 10% of Intel's shares. The funds Intel received through the CHIPS act last year will be converted into equity in the company's shares.
Last week, reports emerged that the move would be taken by the United States to bring back high-tech manufacturing power to the country while at the same time improving security in the future. Trump, who initially insisted that Lip Bu Tan should resign, changed his mind and was open to discussions with Intel after a meeting at the White House.