SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 10 : When the chairman of AI chip startup Rivos wanted Intel to bid for the company, he had no need to phone the chip giant. That’s because the chairman of Rivos was also Intel’s CEO: Lip-Bu Tan.

Tan had pitched Intel’s board on buying Rivos in the summer of 2025, but he had no luck. The board told Tan he had a conflict in representing both Rivos’ interests and Intel’s, and he lacked a strategy on artificial intelligence to justify a deal, three people familiar with the events told Reuters.

Tan asked one of his lieutenants at Intel to pitch a new AI plan, leading to partnership talks with Rivos, the people said. But now there was a problem: social media giant Meta had been stalking Rivos and made an offer for the company.

Meta’s interest spurred Intel to make its own offer. Meta  countered with a sweetened bid. The competition for the startup drove the deal and incentives above the $2 billion valuation that Rivos had sought in fundraising earlier this year. Some of the sources pinned this package at around $4 billion.

Meta announced plans to buy Rivos in September. By then the bidding process had boosted the startup’s returns at Meta’s expense.

Reuters was unable to determine how much the Intel CEO profited personally as a Rivos shareholder because the financials are not public. But in a blog post on its website, Tan’s venture-capital firm, Walden Catalyst, touted how he had delivered a “successful outcome” for its investors and congratulated the Rivos team for their “remarkable achievement.”

The events show one of at least three instances where Intel has pursued deals that benefit Tan financially either by exploring bids for startups or investing in them directly through Intel’s investment arm, Intel Capital, said two of the sources. 

Intel declined to make Tan available for an interview for this story. Meta did not respond to requests for comment, and Rivos declined to comment.

VENTURE CAPITALIST AS CEO

Intel hired Tan in March in part for his experience as a venture capitalist and unparalleled industry connections as a longtime investor in tech companies. Those connections have helped Intel clinch a $5 billion investment from Nvidia and a $2 billion investment from SoftBank.

Since Tan’s arrival, Intel has implemented policies requiring Tan to recuse himself from participating in investme...