Topline
President Donald Trump on Thursday urged Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign “immediately,” lowering Intel’s stock in premarket trading after Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., questioned the company over Tan’s ties to Chinese firms.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton wrote a letter to Intel’s board with questions about CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s ties to Chinese firms.
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Key Facts
“The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, “There is no other solution to this problem.”
Cotton reportedly wrote a letter to Intel board chair Frank Yeary earlier this week asking whether the board was aware of Tan’s connection to Chinese firms and a criminal case involving Cadense Design, where Tan served as CEO before being hired at Intel in March, as Cotton cited his “concern about the security and integrity of Intel’s operations and its potential impact on U.S. national security.”
Cotton questioned whether Tan divested from Chinese companies linked to the Chinese military or Communist Party, whether Tan adequately disclosed other ties and what measures Intel took to address those concerns.
In a statement to Reuters, Intel said it would address Cotton’s concerns with him directly, noting the company and Tan are “deeply committed to the national security of the United States and the integrity of our role in the U.S. defense ecosystem.”
Intel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tangent
Intel’s shares traded down nearly 2% in premarket trading, returning some losses after the stock fell more than 5% in the minutes after Trump’s social media post.
What Are Intel Ceo Lip-Bu Tan’s Ties To China?
Reuters reported in April that Tan has invested in several China-based companies through Walden International, his venture capital firm, and two Hong Kong holding companies. With Walden International, Tan became an investor in Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, China’s largest chip foundry, in 2001 and served on the firm’s board until 2018. The company was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2020 for its ties to the Chinese military, and Tan exited his investment the following year. Walden was also involved in a joint investment in Intellifusion, a surveillance company blacklisted by the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2020 for alleged involvement in human rights abuses.
Key Background
Tan was appointed as Intel CEO in March, as the company cited him as an “accomplished technology leader with deep semiconductor industry experience.” Tan previously served as the CEO of Cadence Design from 2009 to 2021 and as its executive chairman from 2021 to 2023. Cadence Design pleaded guilty earlier this year after the DOJ claimed the company sold hardware, software and semiconductor design intellectual property to a Chinese military university, which was believed to be involved in simulating nuclear blasts. The U.S. does not prohibit U.S. citizens from holding stakes in Chinese companies, unless those firms have been added to the Treasury Department’s Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies list, which explicitly bans those investments. In April, Reuters reported Tan had not directly invested in any company under the Treasury’s list.
Further Reading
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/08/07/trump-says-highly-conflicted-intel-ceo-should-resign-immediately-after-senator-probes-china-ties/