Trump calls on Intel CEO to resign
'There is no other solution to this problem,' Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, knocking shares of Intel down nearly 5% in premarket trading.
The move comes a day after Reuters reported U.S. Republican Senator Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel's board chair with questions about Tan's ties to Chinese firms and a recent criminal case involving his former firm Cadence Design.
In April, Reuters reported Tan - himself or through venture funds he has founded or operates - has invested in hundreds of Chinese companies, some of which are linked to the Chinese military. The Intel CEO invested at least $200 million in hundreds of Chinese advanced manufacturing and chip firms between March 2012 and December 2024, Reuters found.
Intel did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Once the dominant force in chip-making, the company is in the middle of a strategy shift meant to revive its fortunes after it fell behind Taiwanese rival TSMC in manufacturing.
Intel also has virtually no presence in the booming market for AI chips dominated by Nvidia
Tan, who took over the CEO role in March after the ousting of his predecessor Pat Gelsinger late last year, has set a goal of slashing the chipmaker's workforce to 75,000 people by year-end, a reduction of around 22%. Intel also vowed to take a more disciplined approach to manufacturing investment.
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It goes further by explicitly committing to support 'countries, especially those in the Global South' in building their AI capabilities in line with their own national conditions. The most concrete manifestation of this philosophy is China's proposal for a global AI cooperation organisation. The body would aim to align governance rules, technical standards, and development strategies, while respecting policy differences between nations. Beijing presents this not as an ideological bloc but as a pragmatic platform: a means for countries to undertake joint technical research, share open-source technologies, and strengthen their own AI innovation ecosystems. As Li explained, 'China is willing to share its AI development experience and technological products to help countries around the world — especially those in the Global South — to strengthen their capacity building.' 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By positioning itself as the champion of multilateralism, China counters the US narrative that it should be isolated from key technological flows. In effect, China's inclusive rhetoric also functions as strategic outreach to counter Washington's exclusionary alliance-building. Still, the differences in tone and substance between the two plans are striking. The US blueprint treats AI as a high ground to be seized and defended. The Chinese plan treats it as a commons to be cultivated. These divergent philosophies carry profound implications for the structure of the emerging AI order. If Washington's approach prevails, the world could see the consolidation of closed technology blocs: one led by the US and populated by its security partners, another orbiting around China and those willing to defy American export controls. Innovation might accelerate within each bloc, but the gaps between them — in capabilities, standards, and access — would widen. The very idea of global governance would fragment into parallel systems, mirroring Cold War-era divides. If Beijing's approach gains traction, there could be greater cross-border sharing of AI resources, especially between advanced economies and the developing world. This could help narrow the AI divide and create more interoperable global standards, though it would also require trust in China's commitment to openness and in its own governance norms. Given that China's domestic AI environment is subject to extensive state oversight and censorship, some countries may remain cautious about whether its version of 'openness' aligns with their values. For the Global South, the stakes are especially high. Under the US plan, access to cutting-edge AI may be contingent on political alignment, limiting the ability of non-aligned nations to leverage AI for their own development. Under the Chinese plan, access might be easier, but the terms could be shaped by Beijing's strategic priorities and its own vision for digital sovereignty. The choice facing much of the world, then, is not simply between 'free' and 'restricted' AI, but between different models of technological interdependence: one based on selective exclusivity, the other on conditional inclusivity. Both are political, both are strategic and both will shape how AI transforms the global economy.
