U.S. authorities plans to take a ten% stake in Intel

The U.S. government plans to take a 10% stake in Intel, President Donald Trump told reporters Friday. Bloomberg was first to report the news, which pushed the semiconductor chip company’s stock up more than 7%. Trump said Intel has agreed to the proposal.

The news comes during a pivotal — and recently volatile — time for Intel. CEO Lip-Bu Tan is currently restructuring the chipmaker, shuttering certain divisions and laying off workers in a bid to focus on its core businesses and catch up to rivals like Nvidia.

Earlier this month, Trump pushed Tan to resign because of perceived conflicts of interest. Tan later met with Trump to find out a way to assuage the president and figure out ways for the company and government to work together.

Such federal government ownership of a major corporation would mark a dramatic departure from longstanding U.S. policy. Government equity stakes in private companies are extremely rare in the U.S. and highly controversial, with notable exceptions occurring during the 2008-2009 financial crisis when the government took temporary ownership stakes in companies like General Motors, AIG, and a few major banks to prevent economic collapse.

The deal, which is expected to be announced later Friday, comes days after the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank agreed to make a $2 billion investment in Intel. That deal was couched as a commitment to advanced technology and semiconductors in the U.S.. Under that agreement, SoftBank agreed to buy Intel common stock at $23 per share. Intel shares were trading around $25 on Friday afternoon.

TechCrunch has reached out to Intel and the White House for comment.

This is a developing story…