That was one way to force Intel to the negotiating table.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan is headed to the White House later today, August 11, to talk shop with President Trump. Only days ago, Trump called for Tan’s immediate resignation on his social media platform, Truth Social. Talk about awkward meet-ups.
According to the Wall Street Journal, speaking to people familiar with the matter, the two are expected to discuss Tan’s personal and professional background and the ways in which Intel and the US government could work together in future.
Last week, Trump put out a post on Truth Social stating, « The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. »
Tan and the Intel board released a statement in response. It read: « Intel, the Board of Directors, and Lip-Bu Tan are deeply committed to advancing U.S. national and economic security interests and are making significant investments aligned with the President’s America First agenda. »
Tan goes on to note further investment is coming to its facilities in the US, though this does ignore something Tan said quite recently: a plan that could be set in motion to save costs at the ailing firm.
Tan said in a 10-Q filing to the SEC that Intel may halt development of 14A, its next-generation process node, if it does not find a « significant external customer » in the near-future. This would save money, but in the process would put domestic semiconductor manufacturing at risk in the US, as firms outside the US would hold all the cards, such as TSMC and Samsung.
« I do not subscribe to the belief that if you build it, they will come », Tan said in the company’s Q2 earnings call.
