US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick is looking into the White House taking equity stakes in Intel and other chipmakers in exchange for grants under the Chips Act, which aims to spur factory-building in the US,

Lutnick just laughed it off, indignantly pointing out that “we were just giving away the money” under the previous terms of the CHIPS Act. But the legality of any equity stake would likely be challenged by both Intel shareholders and competitors in the industry, according to the Times.

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.

Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), a libertarian-minded Republican, criticized the Trump administration’s push to acquire a stake in U.S. chipmaker Intel, suggesting the move would be a “step toward socialism.” “If socialism is government owning the means of production,

US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick has said that Intel must give the US government an equity stake if the company wants to receive its CHIPS and Science Act funding.