Here is the plain text result:
Intel, a fallen Silicon Valley icon trying to restore its reputation as America’s most prominent semiconductor company, is working with the Trump administration on a plan to turn over the operation of its chip-making plants to a giant Taiwanese rival. Over the past few months, Frank Yeary, the interim executive chairman of Intel, has spoken with administration officials and leaders of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company about a deal that would separate Intel’s ailing manufacturing business from its semiconductor design and product business, according to four people with knowledge of the plan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. TSMC, which produces an estimated 90 percent of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, would assume control of Intel’s manufacturing business and take a majority stake in the business alongside a consortium of investors that could include private equity firms and other tech companies, the four people said. The Trump administration has encouraged TSMC to do the deal.
Intel’s business prospects soured after it failed to develop smartphone and artificial intelligence chips. Despite the government’s best efforts to revive the company by promising it billions of dollars of subsidies through the Biden administration’s CHIPS Act, Intel has continued to struggle. Mr. Yeary has been speaking to Mr. Lutnick regularly about the idea since then, three of these people said. The Intel chairman’s interest in cleaving the company has also opened the door for suitors interested in acquiring Intel’s product business, including Qualcomm. Some details of the discussions were previously reported by Digitimes, a Taiwanese news outlet, and Bloomberg. The question now is whether the Trump administration thinks an ailing national champion like Intel is better off in the hands of a foreign company or if the administration needs to search for another solution. …
Source link
