Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan breaks his silence after Trump calls for his resignation

Business Insider via MSN ^ | 08/08/2025

[Zhang Fei]

[July 28 (Reuters) - Cadence Design (CDNS.O), agreed to plead guilty and pay more than $140 million to resolve U.S. charges for selling its chip design products to a Chinese military university believed to be involved in simulating nuclear explosions, the Justice Department said on Monday.
Cadence is accused of violating export controls by illegally selling chip design software and hardware to front companies representing China’s National University of Defense Technology.]

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It’s a questionable charge because any sales to anyone in the world could have been rerouted this way. This is the problem with settlements with the DOJ. Even if you think you’re being a good citizen by going along with its charges and agreeing to do things that are patently ridiculous on their face, the very existence of a settlement makes you look nefarious in the public eye.

Microsoft Outlook could be used to coordinate Chinese espionage attempts against the US, so Microsoft shouldn’t sell its e-mail program outside the US, where the FBI’s writ has no force. Excel could be used to track payments for Chinese spies and budget for expenses involved in recruiting them, so foreign spreadsheet sales ought to be banned. The list is endless and spans any random thing a DOJ lawyer with unlimited time on his hands can dream up.