The federal government could soon own stakes in seven additional companies, bringing the total Trump administration portfolio of private companies to 30.  The seven companies the administration is looking to take stakes in are part of the artificial intelligence supply chain and include GlobalFoundries, Kepler, Multibeam Corporation, Extropic, Thintronics, Obsidia Semiconductors, and Aeluma. The companies signed letters of intent, meaning additional negotiations need to take place before a deal is reached with the Commerce Department, the agency that will distribute the funds. The seven new prospective deals would add to the federal government’s growing portfolio of equity stakes in private companies. Since taking office, the Trump administration has negotiated ownership stakes in companies spanning semiconductors, critical minerals, battery supply chains, energy, and advanced manufacturing. The Trump administration’s equity stakes differ from those of past administrations, which would occasionally become a shareholder in private companies during periods of economic crisis. During the 2008 financial crisis, the Bush administration launched the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which allowed the Treasury Department to inject capital into struggling financial institutions in exchange for preferred stock and warrants. General Motors was one of the largest beneficiaries of TARP, and during the Obama administration, the government took a 60.8% majority equity ownership stake in General Motors. The U.S. Treasury Department gradually sold its shares over the next few years, with the last shares sold in December 2013. Ultimately, the shares were sold at a $10.5 billion net loss.  The Trump administration’s strategy differs from those interventions. Rather than taking a controlling stake to prevent the collapse of a company, the administration is acquiring minority, non-controlling ownership stakes in companies it views as strategically important to industrial policy and national security. The Trump administration also briefly considered taking a controlling stake in Spirit Airlines before ultimately deciding not to rescue the bankrupt airline.  The majority of the government equity deals, 18 out of the 30, have been made possible by the Commerce Department, which administers the money through the CHIPS Act. The Trump administration’s policy represents an evolution from how the CHIPS Act was implemented under former President Joe Biden. The CHIPS Act gave the Commerce Department $39 billion to award to semiconductor companies through grants and other financial incentives. Under Biden, the Commerce Department primarily distributed grants, loans, and loan guarantees with opportunities for the department to claw back money if company project deadlines were not met. The law also included clauses that allowed the federal government to share a portion of unexpected profits with taxpayers if projects substantially outperformed expectations. Recipients of the funds did not issue equity to the federal government. The Trump administration has retained the CHIPS funding program, but it changed the structure of some awards by negotiating non-controlling equity stakes.  That structural change is being questioned in the courtroom. Intel shareholders sued the company’s board and the Commerce Department for acquiring an equity stake, arguing that while the CHIPS Act authorizes Commerce to provide grants, loans, and loan guarantees, it does not authorize the department to take equity in private companies. The lawsuit contends that “nothing in the CHIPS Act contemplates the U.S. government acquiring an equity interest” in recipients. The case, pending in Delaware, could become the first judicial test of the Trump administration’s equity stakes.