SoftBank is investing $2 billion in Intel, even as the White House is considering taking a 10% stake in chipmaker per reports, as talks with the company and Trump's team advance.

The White House on Tuesday said it was “ironing out the details” of a deal that would entail the US government taking a 10 per cent stake in struggling US chipmaker Intel.

An Intel deal would be one of the largest government interventions in private industry since the U.S. auto industry's bailout under President Obama.