Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger joins “The Claman Countdown” to react to Intel’s chip announcement at CES and President Trump’s support for expanding U.S. manufacturing.
Intel revealed new chip manufacturing This week, former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said the United States still has a long way to go to recover chip production in Asia.
“The metric [is] however, how many wafers are built in America,” Gelsinger said Friday. “The Claman countdown.”
“That’s the only thing that matters,” he added.
Gelsinger’s warning comes as the Trump administration has moved to bolster U.S. chip manufacturing, taking a stake in Intel and working to bring production of advanced semiconductors back to American soil.
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Patrick Gelsinger, former CEO of Intel Corp., appears during the CES event in Las Vegas on January 9, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Much of the world’s advanced chip manufacturing remains concentrated in Asia, particularly in Taiwan. U.S. officials said the imbalance posed economic and national security concerns.
Gelsinger said it was critical for manufacturing to return to the United States, while warning that progress would take time.
“It’s difficult to win back this industry. You know it took decades for it to stabilize in Asia. It’s not coming back quickly,” he said.
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President Donald Trump met with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan at the White House this week, he later praised the company on social media and called the meeting “awesome.”
Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Intel Corp., leaves after a meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, August 11, 2025. (Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The president also said the U.S. government was “proud to be a shareholder of Intel.” In August, the US government took almost 10% stake in the chip manufacturer as part of a broader national security campaign. Advanced computer chips are essential for the military, everyday electronics and other industries to stay competitive in the AI race.
On Thursday, Tan responded to Trump’s praise by writing on
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Gelsinger said major chip designers such as Nvidia and AMD have yet to commit to making chips on U.S. soil, calling those commitments part of Intel’s long-term strategy.
“All of this has to go back to the U.S. foundry and to the Intel foundry,” Gelsinger added.
“These steps are certainly encouraging, but we still have much to do.”
Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger discusses the U.S.-China race for AI chip dominance, the secure chip bill and more on “Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street.”
