Tech

Several Republicans have criticized President Donald Trump’s recent corporate deals, with the 10% equity stake in Intel being the latest in a series of moves that Washington has made to acquire ownership or generate revenue from private companies. According to The Hill, several conservative senators and even former staffers from the first Trump administration are calling these moves a step towards socialism.

“If I was [sic] speaking to the president, I’d encourage him: It’s time to think twice,” former Vice President Mike Pence said to the publication. “State-owned enterprise is not the American way. Free enterprise is the American way.”

Intel has been struggling since 2024, having released a disastrous financial report in August of last year. Although the American chip maker has already received $2.2 billion in CHIPS Act funds, its financial situation suggests that it may struggle to meet the targets required to receive the balance of the nearly $ 8 billion grant awarded during the Biden administration. Things were made worse when the company’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, was dragged into a row over Cadence, which admitted to selling its products to banned Chinese entities while he was its chief executive.