(Yahoo! Finance) - The US government has taken a 10% stake in Intel (INTC), a deal that President Trump has signaled could be the first of a new norm.
Former US Treasury Secretary for the Clinton administration, Larry Summers, who also sits on the OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) board of directors, joins Opening Bid to weigh in on the deal and its implications.
Watch Yahoo Finance's full interview with the former Treasury secretary.
Speaker A
Uh, Mr. Summers, before I let you go, you have a very unique view on the future of technology and AI sitting on that OpenAI board. What do you think about the government taking a 10% stake in Intel? Is that a good move and one that you want to see?
Mr. Summers
I'm surprised by that, uh, move. I don't know the details of that situation well enough, uh, to, uh, understand the transaction. I can certainly see the logic of the government wanting to get something back for taxpayers when it supports a company that has been poorly run. But it comes as part of a general approach to, uh, policy, what you might call deals-based capitalism rather than rules-based, uh, capitalism, the rather remarkable and I think extraordinarily problematic trans, uh, action with Intel, where they were given more export controls, uh, freedom in return for payments to the government, the taking of a share in US steel as, um, the price of granting a regulatory approval, the deals struck with law firms after threats against those law firms not to be able to enter, uh, government buildings. The whole approach of deals-based capitalism is, I think, something that is really quite problematic. And I would guess that when I learn all the facts, I will find this Intel transaction to have that aspect, uh, as, uh, as well. But I don't want to judge the transaction given that the government is bailing out a company that has been poorly run, uh, without understanding things better.
By Brian Sozzi - Yahoo Finance Video
