U.S. President Donald Trump revealed on Truth Social on Thursday that Apple has reached an agreement with American chip company Intel to design and manufacture Apple chips on U.S. soil, in a move reflecting a rapidly accelerating trend towards achieving self-sufficiency in semiconductor manufacturing.
This deal did not come out of nowhere, as The Wall Street Journal reported last May that the two companies had reached a preliminary agreement to manufacture some chips, following a grueling negotiation process that lasted more than a year.
Through this partnership, Apple aims to diversify its chip manufacturing sources, amid its heavy reliance on Taiwanese company TSMC, whose advanced production lines are experiencing rising demand from AI chip giants, led by Nvidia and AMD. This excessive reliance on a single manufacturer has become a strategic vulnerability in Apple’s supply chain, especially amidst escalating geopolitical tensions surrounding Taiwan.
The announcement comes as part of U.S. efforts to rebuild local manufacturing capabilities in the semiconductor sector, which is considered a key pillar of the Trump administration's industrial agenda.
This partnership carries special significance, as it brings together the world’s largest technology company with the founder of American chip-making, in a shared bet on the future of manufacturing within the United States.