Trump touts Apple-Intel chip deal, says US govt stake in Intel now worth $60 bn

Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and build chips in the United States, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday.

The deal would mark a major breakthrough for Intel, which has spent the past year overhauling its operations under Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan in a bid to regain technological leadership and establish itself as a leading contract chip manufacturer.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the administration had helped Intel secure business from major technology companies as part of efforts to rebuild semiconductor manufacturing in the United States.

"We decided to help Intel in exchange for 10% of their shares," Trump said.

He noted that the government's stake was now worth more than $60 billion after Intel's market value rose from about $100 billion when the investment was proposed to more than $600 billion.

The White House has previously indicated it was considering taking an equity stake in Intel.

In August 2025, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the administration was in talks to acquire a 10% stake in the company by converting federal grants pledged under President Joe Biden’s 2022 CHIPS and Science Act into Intel shares.

The Apple agreement would be a major win for Intel, which has struggled for years to keep pace with rivals and has been working to attract major customers to its foundry business.

Since taking over in early 2025, Tan has launched sweeping restructuring measures aimed at reversing years of manufacturing setbacks and narrowing Intel's gap with AI chip leader Nvidia.

As part of the turnaround effort, Intel said in July 2025 that it would cut more than 25,000 jobs, reducing its workforce from about 108,900 employees at the end of 2024 to roughly 75,000 by the end of 2025.

The company also scrapped planned factories in Germany and Poland, slowed construction at its Ohio facilities and consolidated some operations in Costa Rica into Vietnam and Malaysia.

SoftBank Group disclosed a $2 billion investment in Intel last year, buying a 2% stake at $23 per share.

Intel shares were trading at about $121.10 on Wednesday, more than five times the price SoftBank paid.

Apple currently relies on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to produce the custom-designed chips used in its iPhones, iPads and Mac computers.

Trump did not say whether the Intel agreement would involve existing Apple processors or future chip designs.