WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump demanded the immediate resignation of Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan over alleged conflicts of interest tied to Chinese firms.
“The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem,“ Trump posted on Truth Social.
The call came after Senator Tom Cotton raised concerns about Tan’s connections to Chinese companies.
Tan reportedly controls dozens of Chinese firms and holds stakes in hundreds of advanced-manufacturing and chip companies.
At least eight of these firms allegedly have ties to the Chinese military, according to Cotton.
Cotton also highlighted Tan’s previous role at Cadence Design Systems, which admitted to illegally selling products to a Chinese military university.
Tan led Cadence during the time of the violations.
The Malaysia-born executive took over Intel in March amid financial struggles and layoffs.
He acknowledged the challenges ahead, stating it “won’t be easy” to turn the company around.
Intel, once a Silicon Valley giant, has fallen behind Asian rivals TSMC and Samsung in semiconductor manufacturing.
The company also faces stiff competition from Nvidia in the AI chip market.
Intel’s focus on traditional computing chips has been overshadowed by the rapid growth of AI technology. – AFP
