Proactive Investors - Japanese conglomerate SoftBank was in talks with Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC, ETR:INL) to produce an artificial intelligence-focused chip to rival market-leading designs from dominant AI chipmaker Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) Corp.
According to a Financial Times report citing “people familiar with the matter”, SoftBank planned to rope in the efforts of its portfolio companies Arm Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:ARM) and Graphcore to design the chip.
The talks between SoftBank and Intel fell apart in recent months, with SoftBank blaming its would-be partner for the collapse of the talks, according to the FT report.
Intel has embarked on a major cost-cutting project, including axing 15,000 jobs, in order to save up to $10 billion.
Once the embodiment of Silicon Valley innovation, Intel has struggled to keep pace with shifting technological sands.
It has been unsuccessful in its attempts to steal market share from TSMC and Samsung (LON:0593xq) as a semiconductor manufacturer, and operating losses have continued to plague the business.
This is despite receiving billion of dollars in state funding under the US CHIPS Act.