The Zhitong Finance App learned that Intel (INTC.US) has recently been hit hard, and its market value has shrunk by more than 60% this year. The reason is that the company is struggling in the booming artificial intelligence market, and on the other hand, it is also building a large number of fabs in the US. As a result, the company is seeking help from US Secretary of Commerce Raymond.

In a recent meeting with Raymond, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger expressed his disappointment that American companies rely heavily on TSM.US, the world's largest contract chipmaker.

According to people familiar with the matter, in view of increasing geopolitical risks, Raymondo then held meetings with several open market investors to strengthen the importance of chip manufacturing in the US. People familiar with the matter said that Raymondo's goal is to urge shareholders of companies such as Nvidia (NVDA.US) and Apple (AAPL.US) to recognize the economic benefits of having an American foundry that can produce artificial intelligence chips.

Intel is currently building factories in four US states and is seeking to transform into a foundry to manufacture chips for other suppliers. Earlier this year, Intel received up to $8.5 billion in Chip Act funding from the Biden administration and could get an additional $11 billion loan from the bill passed in 2022.

Currently, this funding has not been disbursed. A senior government official said that funding is expected before the end of this year.

This is an increasingly important move for Intel as the company is taking a big hit in the microprocessor market. Other than the share of the core PC and data center market being taken by companies such as AMD (AMD.US), Intel has almost no place in the artificial intelligence field where Nvidia dominates.

Intel's foundry efforts have been hampered by delays, according to people familiar with the matter. TSMC is also building a foundry in Arizona and is facing similar problems.

The US Department of Commerce declined to comment, and an Intel spokesperson declined to comment.

According to people familiar with the matter, Intel's board of directors will meet this week to discuss the company's restructuring plans, including the possibility of separating its design business from its foundry business. Intel's chief financial officer David Zinsner told investors at a conference last week that it makes sense to split the business.

“What I can predict is that we will further separate these two businesses,” Zinsner said. It's important for customers to see this split.”

In last month's earnings report, Intel reported lower profits and revenue than analysts' expectations, and said it would lay off 15% of its employees. After the report was released, the stock experienced its worst day in 50 years, and the stock price fell to its lowest point in more than a decade.

Almost all of Nvidia's cutting-edge chips are manufactured by TSMC, which is also a major manufacturer of AMD, Apple, Amazon (AMZN.US), Google (GOOGL.US), and Broadcom (AVGO.US).

Nvidia CEO Hwang In-hoon spoke at the Goldman Sachs Communications Conference on Wednesday and was asked about geopolitical risks and what he would do if special circumstances occurred.

In a conversation with Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, Wong said, “If we have to move from one fab to another, we have the ability to do that. We won't be able to get the same level of performance or cost, but we will be able to supply it.”