(Reuters) -Intel and the U.S. government are likely to finalize $8.5 billion in direct financing for the chipmaker by the end of the year, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the discussions.
The talks were at an advanced stage, but there was no guarantee that they would be completed before the end of 2024, the report said, adding that any acquisition of all or part of Intel’s (NASDAQ:) business would risk could mean that the conversations would be disrupted.
Intel and the U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
U.S. President Joe Biden awarded Intel nearly $20 billion in grants and loans in March to boost the company’s domestic production of semiconductor chips.
The preliminary agreement included $8.5 billion in grants and up to $11 billion in loans for Intel in Arizona, where some of the financing will be used to build two new factories and modernize an existing one.
Qualcomm (NASDAQ:) has approached Intel to explore a possible acquisition of the troubled chipmaker, Reuters reported earlier this month.
Once the dominant force in chip manufacturing, Intel ceded its manufacturing lead to rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and failed to produce a widely desired chip for the generative artificial intelligence boom that has seen Nvidia (NASDAQ:) and AMD ( NASDAQ:) benefited from it.
