U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the government is negotiating to convert nearly $7.9 billion in CHIPS and Science Act grants into equity that would give Washington about a 10% non-voting stake in Intel Corp. Lutnick told CNBC the arrangement would provide taxpayers a return on money already committed under the 2022 law without giving the government authority over the chipmaker’s operations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said any investment would be aimed at stabilising the financially strained company and ensuring domestic chip output. Intel posted an $18.8 billion loss in 2024 and on Monday secured a separate $2 billion capital injection from Japan’s SoftBank. News of the prospective government stake sent Intel shares up roughly 7% on Tuesday. Lutnick added that the administration is examining similar equity-for-funding deals with other major CHIPS Act recipients, including Micron, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung, as much of the law’s $52.7 billion subsidy pool remains undistributed. If adopted, the policy would mark an unprecedented expansion of federal influence in the semiconductor sector while stopping short of direct management control.