President Donald Trump called for Intel chief executive Lip-Bu Tan to resign from his role in a post on his Truth Social account.
"The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately," Trump wrote. "There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!"
Trump's post comes after Republican Sen, Tom Cotton of Arkansas has called for scrutiny of Tan's ties to China. In a letter to Frank D. Yeary, chairman of Intel's board, Cotton raised alarms about connections to Chinese companies that are linked to the country's military and the Chinese Communist Party. These include Cadence Design Systems, where Tan previously served as CEO. Cotton also questioned Tan's ability to be a "responsible steward of American taxpayer dollars" for the company's nearly $8 billion CHIPS Act grant.
Cotton also asked Yeary whether Tan was required to divest from any holdings in Chinese companies with ties to the country, Communist Party, or military.
"Intel, the Board of Directors, and Lip-Bu Tan are deeply committed to advancing U.S. national and economic security interests and are making significant investments aligned with the President's America First agenda," Intel wrote in an unsigned statement late on Thursday. "Intel has been manufacturing in America for 56 years. We are continuing to invest billions of dollars in domestic semiconductor R&D and manufacturing, including our new fab in Arizona that will run the most advanced manufacturing process technology in the country, and are the only company investing in leading logic process node development in the U.S. We look forward to our continued engagement with the Administration."
The company told Reuters on Wednesday that "Intel and Mr. Tan are deeply committed to the national security of the United States and the integrity of our role in the U.S. defense ecosystem."
Tan took the top job at Intel in March, succeeding outgoing CEO Pat Gelsinger. Tan has enacted a sweeping set of measures to reduce costs, including thousands of layoffs, a return-to-office mandate, cut plans to build fabs, and plans to spin off parts of the company that aren't core to its engineering mission.
Yesterday, Trump rattled the semiconductor industry when he called for a 100% tariff on chips, albeit with a loophole for companies that are building and investing in the United States.
Update: Aug 7, 5:44 p.m. ET - updated with statement from Intel.
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