- calendar_today August 31, 2025
Former US President Donald Trump said Intel’s new chief executive, Lip-Bu Tan, should step down immediately over “conflicts” he faces as the top executive at the U.S. technology giant.
In a post on his Truth Social media platform on Thursday, Trump said: “The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem.”
The former president provided no details on what he considered Tan’s conflicts of interest. The terse statement came on the heels of Republican Senator Tom Cotton writing to Intel board chair Frank Yeary last month, expressing “concern about the security and integrity of Intel’s operations” given Tan’s business dealings in China.
Senator Cotton pointed to Tan’s history as a “notable investor” in Chinese technology companies and said that Tan’s “long-standing ties to the Chinese tech industry raise real concerns over the security and integrity of Intel’s operations.”
In a letter to Yeary, Cotton added: “Intel is required to be a responsible steward of American taxpayer dollars and to comply with applicable security regulations. Mr Tan’s associations raise questions about Intel’s ability to fulfill these obligations.”
Tan has been a well-known Silicon Valley figure for more than 30 years. He’s a serial entrepreneur and investor who has launched semiconductor companies and venture capital funds in Asia and the United States. His San Francisco-headquartered venture capital firm and associated funds based in Hong Kong have plowed hundreds of millions of dollars into Chinese technology companies over the years. One of Tan’s notable previous investments is Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), China’s largest chipmaker.
Tan’s record as an investor in China also comes at a time of renewed focus on his past role as chief executive of California-based Cadence Design Systems, a company that sells software used in chip design.
Cadence last week pleaded guilty to violating U.S. export controls by selling its software to a Chinese university with ties to China’s military. Cadence was fined $6.3 million in the U.S. case.
Intel declined to comment on Trump’s statement, as did the White House. Intel’s shares, which had been down as much as 3.2 percent in pre-market trading on Thursday, recovered somewhat in early afternoon trading but were still down around 1.5 percent. The company’s stock has been volatile in recent weeks.
Tan was installed as Intel CEO in March this year when Intel’s board ousted his predecessor Pat Gelsinger. Gelsinger, who is widely respected in the semiconductor industry, has been Intel’s CEO since 2021, when he was hired from VMware. Intel’s board removed Gelsinger as CEO last December, shortly after he was hired, and he had planned to stay on until the end of this year.
Tan has spoken publicly about Intel’s challenges in keeping up with a rival in Taiwan, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest chipmaker.
Intel is under pressure in leading-edge chip manufacturing and remains reliant on TSMC to make the most advanced chips. Intel has also lost market share in other parts of the semiconductor market, especially the booming new field of artificial intelligence chips, where TSMC and several Chinese companies are seen as the leading players in the technology space.
To help it regain its competitiveness, Intel has received billions of dollars in government subsidies and loans. Those funds are part of the wider push by the Biden administration to ramp up domestic semiconductor manufacturing to decrease U.S. dependence on foreign chipmakers, especially those in Taiwan and South Korea.
Intel, though, is far behind TSMC and other rivals in advanced manufacturing. Intel needs to make big progress on its next-generation manufacturing processes and products, including high-performance central processing units, to regain market share and restore its luster. Tan has made clear since becoming Intel CEO that Intel’s board expects rapid progress.
In a speech in July, Tan told staff that Intel would have to “shut off the engine” on its next-generation manufacturing technology if it did not find a “significant external customer.” That threat was an oblique reference to TSMC, which could see its position as the only leading-edge chipmaker in the world become a virtual monopoly if Intel abandons its efforts.
Tan has also said he is prepared to cut Intel’s workforce by 15 percent to restore the company to profitability. Those comments come on top of his warnings about Intel’s manufacturing technology. Some investors have cheered Tan’s comments as a sign that he is determined to take a hard look at Intel and make the changes needed to restore its position.
Intel has confirmed that Tan’s predecessor, Gelsinger, remains on the company’s board. Gelsinger is among the more prominent names in the semiconductor industry. He was Intel’s chief technology officer from 2009 until 2021, and he has a long history with the company, having worked at Intel since 1980.
