Trump Says Apple to Partner With Intel on US Chip Production; Intel Jumps After Hours

$9 Billion in Federal Subsidies Last Year

US Government Holds 10% of Intel

'Taiwan and Others Stole Semiconductor Plants'

'Chips Must Be Designed and Made in America'

President Donald Trump said June 18 that Apple had agreed to work with Intel to design and manufacture chips in the US. The Trump administration has strongly backed Intel as it pushes to bring semiconductor production back to the US.

Trump disclosed the plan in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. "Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and manufacture chips in America," he wrote. "The technology the world depends on was invented in America. We all remember 'Intel Inside.'"

He went on to say that "foolish presidents" had allowed Taiwan and other countries to "steal" US semiconductor plants. "We design everything, but now we have to produce it here in America too," Trump wrote. "That's why we decided to help Intel."

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Apple had reached a preliminary agreement to outsource part of the production of its in-house chip designs to Intel. Trump's post appeared to confirm that report.

Trump also discussed the value of the Intel stake the government acquired after providing $9 billion in federal subsidies last year. "When we made the proposal, they were worth $100 billion. Now they're worth more than $600 billion," he wrote. "That's an increase of more than $500 billion in just nine months."

Markets have viewed the Trump administration's support for Intel as a sign that it sees the company as strategic to reviving US manufacturing. Trump said Nvidia had already agreed to produce its first chips with Intel. He also said Elon Musk, Tesla's chief executive officer, had agreed to build the "Terra Fab," which he described as the world's largest semiconductor plant designed with Intel.

Apple has long relied on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to produce chips used in its smartphones. But a surge in demand for artificial intelligence chips has created production bottlenecks at TSMC and increased geopolitical risks, leading Apple to join forces with Intel.

TSMC still dominates the foundry market, but Intel is expanding rapidly with support from the US government. The Information, a US technology publication, reported that Google had also decided to have Intel manufacture its in-house AI chips, known as TPUs.

Kim Dong-hyun, Hankyung.com reporter, 3code@hankyung.com