Trump Calls for Intel CEO’s Resignation, Says He is ‘Extremely CONFLICTED’

President Donald Trump this morning referred to as for the quick resignation of Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, alleging he has conflicts of curiosity. This newest setback for the struggling pc chip firm couldn’t have come at a worse time, as Intel is in the course of trying a comeback.

“The CEO of INTEL is extremely CONFLICTED and should resign, instantly. There is no such thing as a different answer to this drawback,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Trump’s put up comes as Tan has been trying to stage a turnaround at Intel after the corporate initially missed out on the early wave of the AI growth. Tan turned CEO of the corporate this previous March.

Intel didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Gizmodo concerning Trump’s put up.

Trump’s feedback additionally come only a day after Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas sent a letter to Intel’s Board Chairman Frank Yeary, asking questions on Tan’s investments in Chinese language chip corporations and their alleged ties to China’s authorities and navy.

He additionally raised particular issues about Tan’s former function as CEO of Cadence Design Programs, a place he held for 13 years till 2021. In July, the corporate pleaded guilty to violating U.S. export controls by promoting {hardware} and software program to China’s Nationwide College of Protection Expertise with out acquiring the required licenses.

“Intel was awarded almost $8 billion from the CHIPS and Science Act, the biggest grant to a single firm,” Cotton wrote within the letter. “Intel is required to be a accountable steward of American taxpayer {dollars} and to adjust to relevant safety rules. Mr. Tan’s associations elevate questions on Intel’s capacity to meet these obligations.”

In response to the letter, Intel told Reuters on Wednesday that each the corporate and Tan are “deeply dedicated to the nationwide safety of the US,” and that they might handle the problems within the letter with Cotton.

This isn’t the primary time the Trump Administration has sought to affect enterprise leaders and decide winners and losers within the company world. Because the begin of his second time period, Trump has used tariffs and commerce coverage as instruments to push corporations to speculate extra in the US. CEOs like Apple’s Tim Cook dinner, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos have all met with Trump in efforts to advance their very own enterprise agendas.

Simply final month, Tan had outlined his plan to reduce headcount and reduce spending to make Intel extra aggressive with its rivals.

Tan instructed workers in a staff-wide memo that the corporate will reduce its workforce by roughly 15% by the tip of the yr and scrapped plans for brand new factories in Germany and Poland.

“I do know the previous few months haven’t been straightforward. We’re making exhausting however vital choices to streamline the group, drive higher effectivity and enhance accountability at each degree of the corporate,” Tan wrote within the memo.

So far as its AI ambitions, Tan mentioned the corporate must develop a cohesive stack technique—not simply chips, but additionally the software program and programs to assist them.

“Our place to begin will probably be rising AI workloads – then we are going to work backward to design software program, programs and silicon that allow the perfect buyer outcomes,” Tan wrote.

Now, with the President towards him, Tan’s plans of getting Intel again on monitor have simply turn into lots tougher.