It’s the rumour of the weekend. After Elon Musk about to buy TikTok, now Elon Musk wants to buy Intel. Whether this is just a publicity stunt or a real ambition, we take a closer look at a rumour that has been causing quite a stir in recent hours.
With the inauguration of Donald Trump, key words associated with Elon Musk (including SpaceX, which we’ll talk about later) and a bit of tech, we’ve got the right cocktail to create a buzz in the last few hours. But this rumour didn’t come out of the blue, as it was distilled by SemiAccurate, a respected source in the semiconductor industry.
Is Intel, not at the top of its game, really a prey?
Since the ‘departure’ of its CEO, Intel seems to be in a holding pattern (an interim management team is running the day-to-day operations) while others are moving forward. A situation that adds to the uncertainty and pressure from financial circles. However, even in its short form, Intel is not an empty shell. The company remains a major player, with colossal revenues, an enormous capacity for innovation and, above all, a well-oiled industrial plant. While some believe that a takeover of Intel by Musk would be far-fetched, others consider the hypothesis credible. The new US administration is planning to take back the leadership in wafer-thinness and high-volume chip production capacity from Asian players. This is a key strategy for the Trump administration at a time when geopolitical uncertainties pose a huge threat to other local champions AMD and Nvidia. Indeed, dependence on Taiwan’s TSMC could cause these two companies to collapse like a house of cards in the event of a major crisis between China and Taiwan.
Does Intel make sense for Musk?
The first thing that strikes you about the SpaceX boss’s track record is that Intel is a heavyweight structure, with multiple processes and a need to hire and retain brains. So far we’ve seen that he prefers start-ups or flexible companies. A world where he can shake things up and reinvent an entire model by slimming down the workforce. However, his main companies, Tesla and SpaceX, are hardware-intensive and increasingly in need of computing power and chips to manage their own AI, in their vehicles, for the design of their rockets, robots, etc. Controlling a foundry and designer could provide Musk and America in general with a perfectly independent and autonomous centre. Musk’s theoretical ambitions aside, this could also be a major sovereign act on the part of the new US administration.
While SemiAccurate confirms that Elon Musk and his teams at SpaceX are working on a potential acquisition of Intel, this does not mean that the deal is on track. The challenge seems significant, but not all that crazy in the context of the global re-industrialisation that the Americans have embarked upon. The new Trump administration should shed some light on the subject. One thing is certain: with Musk, what seems improbable or even illogical is not necessarily so in his head.
