At the time, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said the company would stop all nonessential work and has since announced it will spin off its chipmaking business, a part of the company that it had long touted as a strength over rival AMD and the many fabless chipmakers that rely on entities like Taiwan’s TSMC to produce all of their actual silicon.

Intel lost out to AMD in a multiyear Sony chip deal, due to higher costs and failure to quote an appropriate selling price. Intel's stock has fallen 48% in the past year.

The chipmaker Qualcomm has approached its rival Intel in recent days about the possibility of acquiring the slumping Silicon Valley giant, two people familiar with the matter said Friday, requesting anonymity because the talks were confidential.