- calendar_today August 31, 2025
Former US President Donald Trump has called on Intel’s newly minted CEO Lip-Bu Tan to step down due to a series of alleged conflicts.
“INTEL’s CEO is highly CONFLICTED and must resign immediately. There is no other solution to this problem,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Thursday. The ex-president added no further explanation as to what these specific conflicts were.
Tan’s appointment has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after Republican Senator Tom Cotton wrote to Intel’s board chairman Frank Yeary to voice “concern about the security and integrity of Intel’s operations” should the semiconductor company move forward with Tan as CEO. Citing Tan’s long history as a prolific investor in Chinese tech companies, Cotton has said these ties could present a risk to Intel’s status as America’s most advanced chipmaker.
Tan, a Silicon Valley veteran, has spent decades leading semiconductor and venture capital firms with global operations. Through his San Francisco-based investment firm as well as two affiliated companies in Hong Kong, Tan’s investments have funneled billions of dollars into Chinese technology startups over the years. This includes Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), China’s largest chipmaker.
Tan has also come under increased scrutiny over his past executive role at California-based Cadence Design Systems, which makes chip design software. Last week, Cadence agreed to pay $75 million to settle charges it broke U.S. export controls in 2021 when it sold chip design tools to a Chinese university that has reported ties to the Chinese military. The Cadence episode has given critics of Tan’s appointment ammunition to press for his dismissal as Intel’s chief executive at a critical moment for the U.S. chip industry.
Intel and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Trump’s call for Tan’s resignation. However, Intel’s stock dipped by 3 percent in pre-market trade in New York on Thursday morning after the former president’s post.
Tan assumed the CEO role in March after Intel’s board of directors voted to oust the company’s previous CEO, Pat Gelsinger, in December. The company had named Tan as CEO in February, just one month before Gelsinger’s removal.
Tan’s tenure at the helm of Intel has gotten off to a rocky start. After decades of semiconductor dominance, Intel has struggled to keep pace with rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest chipmaker by market share.
Intel remains the only semiconductor company headquartered in the United States to also produces advanced chips. Yet even by that metric, the company has mostly missed out on the boom in artificial intelligence chips, which are expected to be the next key battleground of global competition in technology. In a bid to turn Intel around, the company has received billions of dollars in government subsidies and loans. This comes as part of Washington’s larger push to incentivize the return of semiconductor manufacturing to U.S. shores to reduce the country’s reliance on foreign chipmakers, particularly those in Taiwan and South Korea. However, with Intel well behind TSMC in cutting-edge chipmaking, Tan has faced enormous pressure to perform since he was named as Gelsinger’s successor.
In July, Tan warned that unless Intel found a “significant external customer” to prop up the company’s next-generation manufacturing technology, the company may need to stop its development. If Intel were to make that move, TSMC would be left with a monopoly on leading-edge chipmaking. This prospect would not only be a huge blow to the semiconductor industry but also to U.S. national security.
These developments have been concurrent with Tan’s own cost-cutting campaign, which he has said is needed to turn Intel’s profit-sinking operations around. While some investors have cheered these moves, they have also added to broader uncertainty around Intel’s long-term strategic vision.
Senator Cotton’s letter, which cited Tan’s past investments in Chinese companies, warned that as a recipient of taxpayer-funded subsidies, Intel would be required to display the highest levels of security compliance and corporate governance. “Intel is required to be a responsible steward of American taxpayer dollars and to comply with applicable security regulations,” Cotton wrote. “Mr Tan’s associations raise questions about Intel’s ability to fulfill these obligations.”
