Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed discussions between the US and Intel Corp. for the government to take a stake in the chipmaker, casting the plan as a bid to convert Chips and Science Act grants into equity.

Lutnick just laughed it off, indignantly pointing out that “we were just giving away the money” under the previous terms of the CHIPS Act. But the legality of any equity stake would likely be challenged by both Intel shareholders and competitors in the industry, according to the Times.

Chips Act shake-up The Trump administration has confirmed it is going to take a 10 per cent slice of Troubled Chipzilla. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said commerce secretary Howard Lutnick was hammering out the details of a nationalisation deal that would see the US government swap