Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss President Trump's deal to allow Nvidia and AMD to sell chips to China, AI arms race with China, Trump administration's push for a stake in Intel,

The US government is in discussions to potentially take a partial ownership stake in Intel, according to an Aug. 18 report by Bloomberg. The deal could help accelerate the construction of Intel’s long-delayed semiconductor manufacturing plant in Ohio.

Intel shares have jumped after Japanese technology investment giant Softbank said it is buying a $2bn (£1.5bn) stake in the US computer chip maker. The announcement came just hours after new reports that the Trump administration is in talks to take a stake of around 10% in Intel by converting government grants into shares.

Intel shares fell 3.7% on Monday, after reports that Trump administration officials are talking about taking a 10% stake in the chip maker. The move would be part of a government effort to save the embattled company and boost semiconductor manufacturing in the U.

After months of turbulence, Intel Corp. bulls are finally being rewarded for their patience. But the stock’s sudden rebound comes with a worrying side effect: a valuation so high its most recent precedent is from the dot-com era more than two decades ago.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC the U.S. government wants a stake in Intel in exchange for CHIPS Act grant money promised under Biden.

Softbank owns a majority stake in Arm. Arm-based chips dominate the smartphone market, and they're starting to compete with Intel in PCs and servers as well. Arm doesn't sell chips directly, instead licensing its designs and intellectual property to companies including Apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and many others.

A US government plan to take a stake in Intel Corp. would give the ailing chipmaker a powerful backer, even if a bigger challenge still lies ahead: finding enough paying customers.