Intel shares slump after Trump calls on CEO to resign over China ties

AI·IntelIntel s slump after Trump calls on CEO to resign over China tiesBy Michelle ChapmanBy The Associated PressBy Michelle ChapmanBy The Associated Press Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying, Files of Intel slumped Thursday after President Donald Trump said in a social media post that the chipmaker’s CEO needs to resign. “The CEO of Intel is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “There is no other solution to this blem

Thank you for your attention to this blem!” Trump made the post after Sen

Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel Chairman Frank Yeary expressing concern over CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s investments and ties to semiconductor firms that are reportedly linked to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army, and asked the board whether Tan had divested his interests in these companies to eliminate any conflicts of interest

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.” Tan, who took over as CEO in March, previously launched the venture capital firm Walden International in 1987 to focus on funding start-ups, including chip makers

China’s state media has described Tan as “actively” devoted to Chinese and Asian , having invested not only in the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company but also China’s state-owned enterprise SMIC, which seeks to advance China’s chipmaking capabilities

The demands made by Trump and Cotton come as economic and political rivalries between the U.S. and China increasingly focus on the competition over chips, AI and other digital nologies that experts say will shape future economies and military conflicts

Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has raised concerns that Chinese spies could be working at companies and defense contractors, using their positions to steal secrets or plant digital backdoors that give China access to classified systems and networks

On Thursday the Arkansas Republican wrote to the Department of Defense urging Defense Secrectary Pete Hegseth to ban all non-U.S. citizens from jobs allowing them to access DoD networks

He has also demanded an investigation into Chinese citizens working for defense contractors. “The U.S. government recognizes that China’s cyber capabilities pose one of the most aggressive and dangerous threats to the United States, as evidenced by infiltration of our critical infrastructure, telecommunications networks, and supply chains,” Cotton wrote in an earlier letter calling on the Pentagon to conduct the investigation

National security officials have linked China’s government to hacking campaigns targeting minent Americans and critical U.S. systems. “U.S. companies who receive government grants should be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars and adhere to strict security regulations,” Cotton wrote on the social platform X

Intel’s troubles have been magnified since the advent of artificial intelligence — a booming field where the chips made by once-smaller rival Nvidia have become ’s hottest commodity

Intel is shedding thousands of workers and cutting expenses — including some domestic semiconductor manufacturing capabilities — as Tan tries to revive the fortunes of the struggling chipmaker

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