SoftBank to take $2 billion stake in chip maker Intel

BANGKOK

Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group plans to take a $2 billion stake in computer chip maker Intel as it deepens its involvement in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and other advanced technology in the United States, the companies have said.

The announcement coincided with unconfirmed reports that President Donald Trump is considering having the U.S. government buy a stake in the chip maker.

SoftBank has been stepping up investments in the United States since Trump returned to the White House. In February, its chairman Masayoshi Son joined Trump, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Larry Ellison of Oracle in announcing a major investment of up to $500 billion in a project to develop artificial intelligence called Stargate.

Intel helped launch Silicon Valley but has fallen behind rivals like Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and is shedding thousands of workers and slashing costs under its new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan.

Intel plans to end the year with 75,000 “core” workers excluding subsidiaries, through layoffs and attrition, down from 99,500 core employees at the end of 2024. The company previously announced a 15% workforce reduction .

Trump recently said Tan, who was made CEO in March, should resign but after meeting with him last week said he had an “amazing story.”

SoftBank's shares were down 2.2% Tuesday in Tokyo, while Intel's dropped 3.7% on Monday in New York.