Japan’s SoftBank has committed to investing $2 billion in U.S. chipmaker Intel as the company struggles to gain traction in the exploding artificial intelligence space and catch up in the mobile market. SoftBank has agreed to purchase roughly 87 million Intel shares at $23 per share to become the company’s fifth or sixth-largest shareholder. The move comes as the Trump administration deliberates converting the U.S. government’s CHIPS Act grants into a 10 percent equity stake in the company as part of its effort to revive American semiconductor manufacturing. Such a deal would make the government Intel’s largest stakeholder.

Intel had a net loss of $2.9 billion in Q2. It is currently focused on “seeking large commitments from customers to move ahead with manufacturing of its latest generation of artificial-intelligence chips,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

Intel was “the biggest beneficiary” of the Biden administration’s CHIPS Act, with eligibility for about $8 billion in government funds for new or revamped U.S. chip manufacturing plants, WSJ explains.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick believes an equity stake in Intel could potentially improve the return on investment for the U.S. and “bolster the company while protecting taxpayer interests,” adds WSJ.

SoftBank’s investment “is a vote of confidence” in Intel’s future, writes CNBC, noting the company has “spent heavily to stand up a manufacturing business but hasn’t yet secured a significant customer.”

CNBC reports that Intel lost 60 percent of its value last year “as the company failed to gain traction in the artificial intelligence market that’s dominated by Nvidia.” Nvidia has expressed interest in having gaming GPUs manufactured using Intel’s 18A node.

After four years in development, Intel’s 18A node — designed to compete with TSMC’s 2nm process — became commercially available in February. High-volume output of flagship 18A products — like the Panther Lake processor, a hybrid chip that the company expects to deliver breakthrough performance for laptops, notebooks and mobile gaming computers — is expected to go into mass production later this year and ramp up through 2026.

Broadcom and Apple are among the companies that have expressed interest in Intel’s new chips.

In an announcement, Intel said SoftBank’s investment “builds upon its long-term vision of enabling the AI revolution by accelerating access to advanced technologies that support digital transformation, cloud computing, and next-generation infrastructure.”

SoftBank owns Arm Holdings and has an investment portfolio that also includes Nvidia and TSMC. The company in April revealed it will potentially pump $30 billion into OpenAI if the company meets certain benchmarks by the end of this year.

Related:
U.S. Examines Equity Stake in Chipmakers for CHIPS Act Cash Grants, Reuters, 8/19/25
SoftBank Makes Surprise $2 Billion Bet on Intel’s AI Revival, Bloomberg, 8/18/25