Intel's $5.4 billion purchase of Tower Semiconductor is supposed to go through today, but will China block it?

Intel's $5.4 billion acquisition of Tower Semiconductor is set to close today, but the deal may not go through as planned. If SAMR does not approve the deal, Intel and Tower will have to either extend things once again or cancel the purchase. Tom's Hardware reported on the ongoing saga this week and highlighted that Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger flew to China recently to try to help the deal go through. The acquisition of Tower going through would help Intel greatly in those efforts. Intel acquiring Tower will help the former succeed in the semiconductor industry, but Intel won't become a monopoly if the deal goes through. Even if the Tower deal helps Intel hit its goal of becoming the second-largest semiconductor maker in the world by 2030, I don't think there would be an Intel monopoly. Anton Shilov at Tom's Hardware suggested that the move by SAMR could be because Tower would help Intel compete with Chinese semiconductor makers, including SMIC and Hua Hong.