August 16, 2025, 7:29 am | Read time: 4 minutes
Just last week, U.S. President Donald Trump publicly demanded the immediate removal of Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan and summoned him to the White House. Now, it seems the two have resolved their disputes. The U.S. government is even considering investing in Intel. Is this a way out of the crisis for the company?
Hope for Intel
Trump had previously accused Tan of being “highly contentious.” The criticism stems from the Intel CEO’s past business relationships with Chinese companies and a criminal case against his former employer, Cadence Design. Tan, however, pledged his commitment to American security policy and emphasized his support for Trump’s efforts for national and economic security in the U.S.
After the meeting at the White House, the situation seems to have calmed somewhat. As reported by “Bloomberg,” the U.S. government is now even considering taking a stake in the chip manufacturer. Trump himself has made a complete turnaround, saying of Tan: “His success and rise is an impressive story.” Investors reacted promptly: Since the beginning of the week, Intel’s stock has risen by a whopping 20 percent.
From Market Leader to Uncertain Contender
In recent years, Intel has suffered a series of significant setbacks that have shaken its once-dominant position in the semiconductor industry. The former technology leader struggled with massive delays in its 10-nm and 7-nm manufacturing processes. Intel had to rely on 14 nm for six processor generations and was overtaken by competitors like TSMC, which transitioned to 10 nm much earlier. The Taiwanese manufacturer supplies chips for companies such as AMD, Apple, and Nvidia.
In 2020, Intel lost Apple as a long-standing hardware partner. The switch to Apple Silicon cost the company an important pillar–for fifteen years, every Mac sold came with an Intel CPU. This was not only a severe blow to Intel’s finances but also to the company’s reputation. Apple’s new M-chips demonstrated how far behind Intel was in performance per watt. Just a few years earlier, AMD had captured the consumer market with its Ryzen processors and the server market with Epyc. After only three generations of its new Zen architecture, AMD had already surpassed Intel in terms of performance and energy efficiency as the market leader.
Also of interest: What ever happened to the video game manufacturer Sega?
Intel’s Investments Did Not Pay Off
Intel’s attempts to venture into new business areas such as discrete graphics cards and AI accelerators have so far fallen short of expectations. Products like the Arc graphics cards were supposed to compete with Nvidia’s GeForce products. After initial problems with immature drivers and limited game compatibility, Arc’s market share has now effectively fallen to 0 percent. Whether Intel will continue this division in light of the losses remains uncertain. With the AI chips from the Israeli startup Habana Labs, which Intel acquired in 2019 for two billion U.S. dollars, the company also aimed to compete with Nvidia. At that time, both companies were still in the same league. But now, thanks to the AI boom, Nvidia has risen to become the world’s most valuable company with a market capitalization of 4.4 trillion USD–while Intel’s value has dropped by 70 percent since 2019 to just 80 billion USD.
Under CEO Pat Gelsinger, Intel invested billions in expanding its foundry division to regain leadership in manufacturing technology and chip production. New sites in the U.S. and Europe were intended to secure Intel’s future in the AI era in the long term. However, Gelsinger left his position at the end of 2024, and in March 2025, Intel announced Lip-Bu Tan as the new CEO.
Tim Cook Steps Down: Apple to Get New CEO
New chips and games consoles – the highlights of Computex 2024
Intel’s Future Is Secure for Now
Intel remains a major player in the semiconductor industry. With revenue of 12.9 billion U.S. dollars in the second quarter of 2025 and substantial cash reserves, the company is financially solid. Despite numerous setbacks, the corporation is still profitable. Additionally, Intel is an important company for the U.S.–as the CEO’s visit to the White House has once again shown. As the only U.S. company with the capacity to manufacture its own high-end chips, Intel is central to the national strategy to reduce dependence on foreign manufacturers.
This unique position alone seems to be a good indication that Intel’s future is secure. While the direct intervention of the Trump administration can certainly be viewed critically as market interference, the loss of Intel as a counterbalance to TSMC, Nvidia, and AMD would have consequences not only for the strategic interests of the U.S. but also for consumers. A lack of competition with Nvidia and AMD could lead to price increases and slower development.