Intel Held Early Talks With Apple, Seeks 14A Backers

Intel has held early-stage talks with Apple about a possible investment and closer collaboration, though neither company has confirmed the reports and any deal may not materialize. The outreach is part of CEO Lip‑Bu Tan’s turnaround push after the U.S. government took roughly a 10% stake and Intel secured funding from Nvidia ($5 billion) and SoftBank ($2 billion). Intel is seeking customer commitments and partners to justify investing in its next‑generation 14A process and to revive its foundry business, and has reached out to multiple firms beyond Apple. Apple, which moved Macs to in‑house TSMC‑made chips in 2020, is unlikely to return to Intel CPUs but an investment could signal alternative cooperation on manufacturing, packaging, supply‑chain resilience or foundry diversification. The reports lifted Intel’s stock as investors cheered potential backing, even as talks remain preliminary and outcomes uncertain amid a U.S. push to rebuild domestic semiconductor capacity.