WSJ Tech News Briefing · Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Robbie Whelan discusses the risks associated with government involvement in corporate affairs, particularly concerning taxpayer money allocation. He notes that Intel's recent struggles in the AI chip industry present an execution risk, where failure could lead to significant losses for both the company and the government.
“And other people who believe in free market primacy don't think that the government should be the one picking winners and losers.”
“And the other criticism is that Intel has, for four or five years now, been almost like an afterthought in the AI chip industry.”
“And so there's a risk here that if you put public money into a company like Intel, maybe they don't get it right. And if that happens, then there might be pressure on the government to cut their losses and say, okay, we tried to save this company, it didn't work.”