President Donald Trump on Thursday demanded that the CEO of the tech firm Intel resign immediately, saying he is “highly conflicted” because of alleged ties to China.
“There is no other solution to this problem,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump’s attack on the Intel chief is his latest attempt to pressure the semiconductor industry, which has fueled the boom in artificial intelligence. On Wednesday, he said he would hit imported computer chips with a 100% tariff unless companies are making them, or plan to make them, in the United States.
The demand also comes after Sen. Tom Cotton wrote to Intel Chairman Frank Yeary to “express concerns about the security and integrity of Intel’s operations and its potential impact on U.S. national security.”
Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, claims in the letter that Intel’s recently named CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, “reportedly controls dozens of Chinese companies and has a stake in hundreds of Chinese advanced-manufacturing and chip firms. At least eight of these companies reportedly have ties to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.”
Cotton asked Intel whether it had asked Tan to “divest from his positions in semiconductor firms linked to the Chinese Communist Party or the People’s Liberation Army and any other concerning entities in China that could pose a conflict of interest?”
Cotton also asked the company if it was aware of any subpoenas that Tan’s former firm received and if Tan has disclosed any other ties to China.
Intel has not responded to NBC News’ request for comment on Cotton’s letter and Trump’s social media post.
The senator’s letter cites a recent Reuters story that said Tan “has invested in hundreds of Chinese tech firms, including at least eight with links to the People’s Liberation Army, according to a Reuters review of Chinese and U.S. corporate filings.”
In March, Yeary announced that Tan had been named Intel CEO. Tan started working at the company on March 18. Tan was previously chief executive of Cadence Design Systems, an American chip design company based in California, from 2009 to 2021.
Intel’s rivals such as Taiwan Semiconductor, Samsung, GlobalFoundries and Nvidia have all announced plans to invest billions of dollars in their existing U.S. chipmaking infrastructure or deepen partnerships with U.S. companies like Apple to dodge those long-promised tariffs.
Further management turmoil for Intel likely spells more trouble and delays as it continues to try to play catch up with its competitors. The company’s stock market value, just shy of $90 billion, lags far behind most of its rivals. Its stock dropped more than 2% Thursday, erasing its gains for the year and underperforming the S&P 500’s 9% gain this year.
Intel’s last CEO, Patrick Gelsinger, was forced out at the end of 2024 after the company fell behind Nvidia, AMD and other chip firms in the AI race. That came as Gelsinger sought to transform the long-struggling company by attempting to build major chip factories in the U.S.
But Intel’s debt load and the lead time that other companies already had on Intel were too much for Gelsinger to overcome.
In November, Intel received a nearly $8 billion grant under the Biden administration’s “CHIPS Act” for factory build-outs and to make secure chips for the Defense Department.
But that grant was less than Intel was originally set to receive. It was reduced because U.S. officials worried about Intel’s ability to deliver what was promised, The New York Times reported.
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