Intel is in discussions with Apple and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) about potential investments and partnerships as part of its broader turnaround strategy, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal on September 25 (U.S. time).

The talks come as Intel seeks external funding and strategic alliances to accelerate its transformation. Once the undisputed leader of the semiconductor industry, Intel has fallen behind rivals such as Nvidia and AMD in the fast-growing artificial intelligence (AI) chip market. CEO Lip-Bu Tan has been actively pursuing partners to revitalize the struggling company.

Intel has already secured several major backers in recent months. The U.S. government, under President Donald Trump, invested $8.9 billion in exchange for a 9.9% stake, while SoftBank injected $2 billion in August. Last week, Nvidia announced a $5 billion investment for a roughly 4% stake and agreed to collaborate with Intel on servers and PC processors.

Reports suggest that Intel's outreach to TSMC and Apple aims to strengthen its contract manufacturing business, which has struggled to compete with TSMC despite tens of billions of dollars in investment. Intel and TSMC previously discussed a preliminary agreement in April to establish a joint venture, with TSMC taking a 20% stake, according to The Information.

Neither Intel, Apple, nor TSMC commented on the latest reports. Still, news of the potential talks boosted investor sentiment. Intel shares surged 8.9% on September 25 to close at $33.99, then rose another 1.4% in after-hours trading to $34.45—nearly 70% above the $20.47 level at which the U.S. government took its stake.