Lip-Bu Tan, Intel CEO targeted by Trump, has been in dispute with companys board for months: report | Latest Tech News
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Intel’s embattled new chief Lip-Bu Tan is reportedly locked in a energy wrestle with members of the chipmaker’s board — a conflict thrust into the highlight after President Trump called for his removing.
The tensions, which have been simmering since Tan took the helm in March, heart on whether or not Intel ought to stay in the expensive business of manufacturing its own chips or exit the phase fully, people acquainted with the matter told the Wall Street Journal on Friday.
Tan has pushed to keep Intel’s foundry operations, arguing they’re important for American technology independence.
Some board members, led by chairman Frank Yeary, have pushed to spin off or promote the unit, which has been shedding money despite accounting for about a third of Intel’s income last yr, according to the Journal.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, seen above talking at an event, has defended conserving the company’s chip manufacturing operations. REUTERS
Yeary held talks with corporations like Nvidia and Amazon about shopping for items of the business, according to the Journal. He is also reported to have explored promoting the firm to Taiwanese chip giant TSMC, though that thought went nowhere.
The disagreement has stalled key initiatives, such as a deliberate multibillion-dollar fundraising effort to increase chip plants, which was delayed after Yeary and others urged transferring at a slower tempo.
Talks to purchase an artificial intelligence firm — seen by Tan as essential to catching rivals like Nvidia and AMD — have also dragged, with another purchaser now close to sealing the deal, according to the Journal.
Strategic partnerships have fallen through, and Tan has told associates he feels hamstrung in his efforts to flip Intel around, the Journal reported.
President Donald Trump has called for Tan’s resignation, citing considerations over his past ties to Chinese corporations. AP
Intel’s difficulties come after years of sliding market worth, pushed in half by its failure to anticipate the speedy rise of AI. The company was awarded billions in funding last yr from former President Joe Biden’s CHIPS Act.
Tan’s appointment initially sparked optimism, with shares leaping more than 13% on his first day. He had earned a fame for reviving Cadence Design Systems, but his honeymoon with Intel’s management ended rapidly.
The boardroom friction erupted into public view on Thursday when Trump posted on Truth Social that Tan was “highly conflicted” and ought to resign, declaring “there is no other solution to this problem.”
Trump’s feedback appeared tied to Tan’s past management of Cadence and his venture-capital investments in Chinese corporations with ties to the army. Cadence just lately agreed to plead guilty and pay more than $140 million to settle federal expenses that it offered chip-design instruments to a Chinese army college.
The criticism adopted a letter earlier this week from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to Yeary, questioning Tan’s hyperlinks to Chinese corporations. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), whose state is home to a number of deliberate Intel plants where construction has been delayed, joined in calling for Tan’s ouster on Thursday.
Intel defended its CEO, saying in a assertion that the company, its board and Tan are “deeply committed to advancing US national and economic security interests” and making investments constant with Trump’s “America First” agenda.
Intel’s headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., where tensions between CEO Lip-Bu Tan and the board have escalated. Getty Images
It added that management is united on strategy and engages in “thorough discussions and deliberations.”
The company has been tightening its belt, asserting last month a 15% workforce discount and scrapping plans for new chip services in Europe.
It also slowed construction on a major Ohio project.
“There are no more blank checks,” Tan told staff in a latest memo.
“Every investment must make economic sense.”
Before Trump’s post on Truth Social, it had appeared that Tan had been making inroads with the new administration. He met in April with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to define his turnaround plans and spoke with him again by telephone in latest weeks, sources told the Journal.
Lutnick indicated the administration would back Intel if it may land major clients such as Apple, a individual acquainted with the talks told the Journal.
Workers inside an Intel chip fabrication facility, half of the foundry operations at the middle of the company’s management dispute. Intel Corporation
Tan’s political place could also be additional sophisticated by the legacy of his predecessor, Pat Gelsinger, who constructed a relationship with Vice President JD Vance before stepping down.
Gelsinger left the company soon after Trump and Vance gained the 2024 election — three months after Tan resigned from Intel’s board over disagreements with Gelsinger and other administrators.
One former board member believes Gelsinger’s ties to Vance may have given Intel a helpful connection to the White House, the Journal reported.
For now, Intel says it plans to keep working with the administration.
But with political strain mounting and inside disputes unresolved, Tan faces the problem of convincing both Washington and his own board that he can steer the storied chipmaker back to stability.
“President Trump remains fully committed to safeguarding our country’s national and economic security,” a White House official told The Post.
“This includes ensuring that iconic American companies in cutting-edge sectors are led by men and women who Americans can trust.”
The Post has sought remark from Intel, Vance, Gelsinger and the Commerce Department.
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