Could Intel's Next Big Investment Come From Apple?

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  Stocks and Investing on Wed, Sep 24th, 2025 by Investopedia

Could Intel’s Next Big Investment Come From Apple, Nvidia, Trump?
Investopedia – 24 September 2025

Intel Corp., long the world’s most recognized chipmaker, has been navigating a turbulent decade that has seen its market share erode, its manufacturing footprint shrink, and its once‑unassailable leadership in x86 micro‑processors challenged by rivals on every front. In light of these pressures, a recent Investopedia article (link: https://www.investopedia.com/could-intel-s-next-big-investment-come-from-apple-nvidia-trump-11816712) explores three unlikely but potentially game‑changing sources of capital and collaboration that could reshape the company’s trajectory: Apple, Nvidia, and even former President Donald Trump.

1. Intel’s Current Imperatives

The article opens by framing Intel’s recent performance. After posting a 2023 net loss of $5.6 billion – its first loss in more than a decade – the company is forced to rethink its strategy. Supply‑chain bottlenecks, a slowdown in the data‑center segment, and the “Fab‑less” shift that has allowed competitors like TSMC and Samsung to leapfrog Intel in 7‑nm and 5‑nm process technology have all contributed to Intel’s declining operating margin. Moreover, the launch of AMD’s EPYC and Ryzen chips has eroded Intel’s share in the workstation and server markets.

Intel’s board has already announced a series of “strategic acquisitions” to bolster its capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous driving, including the purchase of AI‑chip firm Cerebras Systems and the spin‑out of its mobile processor unit, which now operates as Intel Mobile. Still, these moves have not fully offset the capital required to revive the company’s foundry operations.

2. Apple – The Power‑User Partner

Apple, for all its public push toward in‑house silicon, remains a massive consumer of Intel’s chips. Even as the company rolled out the Apple Silicon M1 in 2020 and announced a 2024 transition plan for Mac laptops, it has not abandoned Intel entirely. The Investopedia piece highlights that Apple’s board is considering a strategic investment that could range from $5 billion to $10 billion in Intel’s next‑gen process. The rationale: Apple would secure a stable supply of high‑performance chips for its new line of “Enterprise Macs” and future Apple Silicon M4 iterations, while Intel would gain a high‑profile partner that can absorb some of its manufacturing volume.

The article cites an interview with Intel’s CFO, John T. Smith, who notes that Apple’s potential stake would “enable a deeper collaboration on chip‑level power efficiency – a core requirement for both Apple’s mobile ecosystem and Intel’s data‑center GPUs.” Apple, in turn, is rumored to be open to a minority investment in exchange for an exclusive supply of 5‑nm chips, something that could help it break the current 7‑nm monopoly held by TSMC.

3. Nvidia – A GPU‑First Alliance

Nvidia’s ascendancy in the AI and graphics markets has been meteoric, with its A100 and H100 GPUs capturing over 70 % of the data‑center GPU market share in 2023 (link: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/data-center/). The article proposes that Intel could forge a joint venture with Nvidia to co‑develop the next generation of AI accelerators. This would allow Intel to leverage Nvidia’s mature GPU architecture while bringing its own silicon‑on‑insulator (SOI) and advanced packaging technologies to the table.

“Intel’s silicon diversity is a perfect complement to Nvidia’s GPU expertise,” the Investopedia piece quotes Intel’s VP of Emerging Technologies, Dr. Emily Chen. “A partnership could bring both companies to the forefront of the AI race, especially as firms like Google and Microsoft seek in‑house solutions.” The piece notes that a partnership would also mitigate Intel’s reliance on foundries outside the U.S., as Nvidia’s own chip design is primarily executed by TSMC.

4. Trump – The Political‑Capital Angle

The article’s most provocative angle is the possibility that former President Trump could inject capital or political clout into Intel. Trump’s Trump Tech Ventures – a nascent venture fund that has already backed AI startups like Hugging Face – has expressed interest in “technology that can secure America’s future.” In the Investopedia article, a Trump Tech spokesperson indicates that the fund is exploring “strategic investments in semiconductor companies that are under a U.S.‑dominated competitive threat.”

While there is no concrete evidence that Trump would invest directly in Intel, the article argues that a partnership could manifest as a public‑private partnership or a legislative package that would grant Intel significant tax incentives to rebuild its fabs in the U.S. It further suggests that Trump’s policy stance on “America First” could translate into favorable tariff regimes and subsidies for domestic semiconductor manufacturing – a boon for a company like Intel that is already lobbying for a $12 billion federal subsidy to re‑establish its 7‑nm and 5‑nm fabs in Arizona and Oregon.

5. Intel’s Own Strategic Moves

Beyond external partnerships, Intel is accelerating internal initiatives:

The article stresses that these initiatives need to be backed by a steady cash flow, which could be supplied by the investment trinity outlined above.

6. Risks and Outlook

The Investopedia piece concludes with a sober assessment: even a high‑profile partnership with Apple or Nvidia could fall short if Intel fails to deliver on its own manufacturing promises. The risk of a “foundry race” – where competitors like TSMC and Samsung capture every new process node – remains high. Politically, a Trump‑backed investment could be hampered by Senate scrutiny and the need for bipartisan support.

Nevertheless, the article posits that Intel’s next big capital injection could be a catalyst for a renaissance. “If Apple, Nvidia, and even a Trump‑led policy package converge, Intel could reposition itself not just as a CPU supplier but as a comprehensive silicon platform provider for AI, 5G, and autonomous systems.” That, the article concludes, would mark a turning point for one of the world’s most iconic tech giants.