With Intel, U.S. Has a Stake Without a Strategy

Trump’s forays into private business appear driven by money rather than an overarching plan to bolster American competitiveness

By Greg Ip. Excerpts:

"Intel’s problems date back decades. It grew fat designing and making the chips that power personal computers, then missed the boat on mobile phones and the graphics-processing units that drive artificial intelligence, where Nvidia leads.

Meanwhile, it lost the lead in manufacturing prowess to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which pioneered the “foundry” model: making chips designed by companies such as Nvidia, Apple, AMD and Qualcomm.

Intel has since set out to compete with TSMC in foundry services. To help it finance the necessary fabrication plants (fabs), the Biden administration contributed $11 billion in grants and defense contracts from the CHIPS and Science Act, of which $2 billion has been disbursed. But Intel has struggled to attract foundry customers, and it has pushed back completion of a $28 billion fab complex in Ohio from 2025 to 2030."

"the U.S. would help Intel “to create the most advanced chips in the world.”

And yet the deal doesn’t provide Intel with new resources to accomplish that."