Bernie Sanders and President Donald Trump both back converting multibillion-dollar semiconductor subsidies into government equity stakes so taxpayers share in corporate profits. Sanders previously criticized the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act as corporate welfare and insisted taxpayers deserve a reasonable return when firms profit from federal grants. Intel received $10.9 billion under the CHIPS Act, part of a $39 billion effort to spur domestic semiconductor production and reduce reliance on Asia. The Trump administration is pushing to swap some grants for ownership stakes, a move that sent Intel's stock down about 6%. Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren offered a failed 2022 amendment to require Treasury to take warrants, equity, or senior debt when federal funds go to private chipmakers.
The subject of this unprecedented convergence is Intel, the struggling chipmaker that received $10.9 billion under the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. The injection was part of a broader $39 billion subsidy designed to lure semiconductor production away from Asia. The Trump administration is now pushing to exchange some of those grants for government ownership stakes, which rattled markets and sent Intel's stock plummeting 6% since the announcement.
"If microchip companies make a profit from the generous grants they receive from the federal government, the taxpayers of America have a right to a reasonable return on that investment," Sanders told Fortune.
Sanders has long criticized the CHIPS Act as corporate welfare for some of the world's most profitable technology companies. Back in 2022, he and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) proposed an amendment requiring the Treasury Department to take warrants, equity stakes, or senior debt whenever federal money went to private chipmakers. However, that amendment failed.
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