The Trump administration has launched their own ‘Manhattan Project’ amid reports one of America’s largest companies is set to be nationalized.
Intel, the largest chip fabricator in the US, has been in talks with Donald Trump over a potential government stake in the company.
While the percentage stake the government is asking for has not been made public, nationalizing a company is typically reserved for emergencies.
The government nationalized a number of banks after the 2008 financial crisis and key logistics companies during World War II.
It comes amid concerns that America relies too heavily on TSCM, a chip manufacturer in Taiwan. China has repeatedly threatened to invade the island nation.
If China were to invade, it would throttle America’s ability to compete in the booming chipmaking industry that is being driven by artificial intelligence.
While Intel’s AI chips are considered inferior to those designed by Nvidia and AMD, the company is unique in that it not only designs its chips but it manufactures them. Trump wants to protect America by onshoring chip manufacturing.
‘This feels like the Manhattan Project – or the run-up to World War II,’ MIT AI computer scientist Dave Blundin said. ‘It’s every bit as important as the space race was, as the nuclear arms race was. Actually, it’s more important.’
Hellbound and Down 