The Trump Administration Is All In on Intel

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
This episode is sponsored by Anthropic, the makers of Claude. K.Ju co-founded Genspark, an all-in-one AI workspace. He credits his success to collaborating with trusted partners. Hear from him at the break.

**Imani Moise** (0:19)
Welcome to Tech News Briefing. It's Tuesday, July 14th. I'm Imani Moise for The Wall Street Journal.
More and more iPhones have been landing in repair shops with no cracks, no water damage and no signs of life. We're breaking down why some USB-C chargers are behind the broken tech. Then, nearly a year ago, the US government became Intel's largest shareholder. Just how involved has the Trump Administration been in charting the chipmaker's future? We're looking at the company's comeback and how it's raising bigger questions about the government's role in the tech industry.
But first, chargers are supposed to keep your phone alive, but many of the cables and power adapters on the market are sending devices to an early grave. The cheapest USB-C charger on the shelf could end up costing you big money on repairs or a replacement phone. WSJ's Natalie Kaufman spoke with experts and engineers about the uptick in broken phones they're seeing and joins me now to explain why not all chargers are created equal. Natalie, why is this happening more often now than it was a few years ago?

**Natalie Kaufman** (1:29)
When Apple switched its ports from Lightning to USB-C, it kind of opened up the floodgates for people to buy these cheap dupe chargers, and a lot of those aren't really up to scratch in terms of the safeguards and the ability to properly handle the voltage going through the wire. A repair specialist I spoke with said she's seeing so many devices come in completely fried, so their motherboards are just shot, the touchscreen function isn't working, and she says that has a lot to do with charging damage.

**Imani Moise** (1:58)
A lot of people assume that a USB-C cable is just a cable. Why does the quality of the cable matter so much?

**Natalie Kaufman** (2:06)
It's actually a huge safety issue, so in a lot of cases, if a wire isn't properly handling the current, you can zap yourself, you can start a fire, or in this case, especially worrisome if you're keeping your device for a long time, it can zap your phone. So a USB-C cord should be certified by the Universal Serial Bus Implementers Forum, and that's where USB comes from. And so those go through a lot of different tests to make sure that they're safe and compatible with your device.

**Imani Moise** (2:35)
It's not just cables, though, right? The brick or the actual part that plugs into the wall matters, too.

**Natalie Kaufman** (2:40)
Yeah, absolutely. So the brick has a lot to do with kind of talking with the wire to make sure that the voltage is flowing correctly into your device, so it's kind of this communication, what some people call a handshake negotiation in terms of getting the electricity to flow properly into the device. And so a really cheap off-brand brick or adapter is also not going to be great for keeping your device around for a long time.

**Imani Moise** (3:04)
Okay, let's paint a scenario. I'm standing in a convenience store. My battery is at 2%.
What should I be looking at when I'm trying to figure out which cable to buy? And what are the red flags?

**Natalie Kaufman** (3:13)
Definitely look for a shorter versus a longer cable, because a longer cable sometimes can be inefficient with the charge, just because the voltage has to travel farther. So a shorter cable can be a better option. And then also definitely look for the USB, the certified logo.

**Imani Moise** (3:27)
Aren't those labels easy to fake though?

**Natalie Kaufman** (3:29)
Yeah, and that's been a big problem. Basically anyone can paste what looks like a USB graphic or insignia onto any charging cord or adapter. So it's definitely good to buy from a trusted brand, such as Anker or Belkin or Apple or something like that.

**Imani Moise** (3:47)
So say I'm at work and I see a charger on my colleague's desk, but I'm not really sure where it came from. Will charging my phone there one time be a risk to my phone?

**Natalie Kaufman** (3:55)
If for a long period of time you've got your phone plugged into something that you got for $5 at the gas station, like that can zap your phone. It's not usually something that all of a sudden poof, your device is fried. So it's just something to look out for in terms of if you definitely want to extend the lifespan and the health span of your devices just to make sure you're buying something of high quality. A lot of the experts said, you know, there's this idea where you could buy a $5 charger now, but if it compromises your $1,000 phone, how much are you really saving long term? So definitely something to keep in mind when you're perusing cords so that you're not completely zapping something you just spent a ton of money on.