Intel is getting a $2 billion capital injection from SoftBank Group in a major vote of confidence for the troubled US chipmaker in the middle of a turnaround.
The equity investment, announced by the companies on Monday, is a lifeline for the once-iconic US firm which has struggled to compete after years of management blunders that left it with virtually no foothold in the booming artificial intelligence chip industry.
It will make SoftBank a top-10 shareholder of Intel and add to the Japanese tech investor’s ambitious bet on semiconductor and AI assets that includes the $500bn Stargate US datacentre project.
SoftBank also held talks with Intel on buying its contract chipmaking business ahead of the investment announcement, the Financial Times reported yesterday, citing multiple people with knowledge of the talks.
Intel has invested billions of dollars in setting up a contract manufacturing business that has struggled to compete with Taiwan’s TSMC and barely attracted external customers.
“SoftBank’s investment helps, but it is not what is going to move the dial for Intel,” said Amir Anvarzadeh, Japan equity strategist at Asymmetric Advisors.
“It’s more to maintain this very good relationship he has with Trump,” he said, referring to SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son.
The deal follows media reports last week that the US government may buy a stake in Intel, after a meeting between new CEO Lip-Bu Tan and President Donald Trump that was sparked by the president’s demand for Tan’s resignation over his ties to Chinese firms.
On reports of the government considering a 10 per cent stake in Intel, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said any US investment would be to help the company stabilise, but the government would not force US companies to buy Intel chips.
“The last thing we’re going to do is take a stake and then try to drum up business. The stake would be a conversion of the grants and maybe increase the investment into Intel to help stabilise the company for chip production here in the US,” Bessent said, referring to grants allocated under the CHIPS Act.
Bessent did not provide details about the size or timing of any US stake.
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