Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Feed Link: https://www.engadget.com/
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Title: Trump administration official says some CHIPS Act companies won't need
to give up equity

Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2025 12:30:41 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/trump-admin...

Last week, the Trump administration said it might take a stake in Intel in
exchange for the $10.86 billion in federal grants the company is receiving
from the Chips and Science (CHIPS) Act. However, not all companies receiving
funds under the same program will need to give up equity, The Wall Street
Journal has reported. Companies like TSMC and Micron that increased their US
investments won't have any additional obligations, according to a government
official familiar with the matter.

Ealier, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick appeared to royally screw NVIDIA
with comments about the company's H20 AI chips, and may have also rubbed chip
giant TSMC the wrong way. "The Biden administration literally was giving
Intel [money] for free, and giving TSMC money for free, and all these
companies, just giving them money for free," he told CNBC on Tuesday. "Donald
Trump turns that into saying, 'Hey, we want equity for the money. If weΓÇÖre
going to give you the money, we want a piece of the action.'"

However, TSMC may have noticed the Intel equity kerfuffle and executives
reportedly held preliminary discussions about handing back subsidies if the
US government asks to become a shareholder, according to the WSJ's sources.
TSMC was awarded $6.6 billion for its Arizona plant that started producing
chips late last year for Apple and others. However, the company recently said
it would invest another $100 billion over the next four years to build three
more fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities and a major
research and development center.

Because of that extra investment, the Trump administration won't ask for a
piece of TSMC or Micron (which also expanded its US facilities in Idaho, New
York and Virginia). "The Commerce Department is not looking to take equity
from TSMC and Micron," an unnamed official said.

In any case, attempts by the US government to take equity in companies will
likely face legal challenges due to language in the contracts. Companies are
already required to share revenue with the US government if profits rise
above a certain amount.

In another development, the US government may divert up to $2 billion in
CHIPS Act funding toward critical minerals projects in the US, Reuters
reported. The move aims to reduce US dependence on China for key minerals
extensively used in the electronics and defense industries. "The
administration is creatively trying to find ways to fund the critical
minerals sector," Reuters' source said, adding that those plans could change.


This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-
tech/trump-administration-official-says-some-chips-act-companies-wont-need-to-
give-up-equity-130041299.html?src=rss

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