Intel-Apple Investment: Will Apple Follow Nvidia's $5B Chip Deal?

Days after Intel (INTC) secured a $5 billion investment from Nvidia (NVDA), there are (as of yet) unconfirmed reports that it could be looking for a similar deal from Apple (AAPL). Intelshares jumped 6% on Wednesday, 24 September, when it was reported that the firm was in early talks with Apple to invest and work more closely in the future.

Intel’s gains went against the broader trend of weakness in the stock market, with major US indices dragged lower on Wednesday by tech stock declines. Intel stock is now up over 40% since mid-August (as of the time of the writing), not dissimilar to the huge gains seen in rival ‘old tech’ giant Oracle (ORCL) following its deal with OpenAI.

TL;DR

• Intel shares jumped 6% on reports of early talks with Apple about a potential multi-billion dollar investment.

• The move follows Nvidia’s recent $5B deal for a 4% stake in Intel and a chip manufacturing partnership.

• Apple and Intel have not confirmed any possible agreement, so discussions remain unverified at this stage.

Is Apple the Next to Invest in Intel?

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan is apparently making strategic partnerships a cornerstone of his turnaround plan for his beleaguered company. 

While no specific numbers are known, and no deal has been confirmed by either company, investors are speculating that any arrangement between Intel and Apple could be similar to the deal just completed with Nvidia. The Nvidia deal follows a $2 billion investment by SoftBank (9984.TY) and a 10% stake by the US Federal Government.

A closer relationship between the two companies could benefit both, especially in the new era of AI and as the US reshores its technology supply chain. Intel has fallen behind rivals like Nvidia and AMD (AMD) in advanced chipmaking for artificial intelligence, and Apple could curb favour with the Trump administration and diversify its supply chain away from TSMC (2330).

A Wave of Big Tech Partnerships

A series of major new partnerships appears to be another strand of the multi-billion-dollar investments in AI, cloud, and microchip infrastructure.

From equity stakes to multi-year cloud contracts, the race for computing power and chip supply is driving some of the largest tech agreements ever signed. Here are some of the biggest deals announced in recent months:

Mega-deals in AI, cloud, and chips:

• Nvidia–Intel: $5B stake, ~4% ownership.

• Oracle–Meta (META): $20B cloud partnership talks.

• Oracle–OpenAI: $300B, five-year cloud deal.

• CoreWeave (CRWV)–Nvidia: $6.3B cloud capacity order.

• Nebius–Microsoft (MSFT): $17.4B GPU infrastructure, five years.

• Meta–Google Alphabet (GOOGL): $10B, six-year cloud agreement.

• Tesla (TSLA)–Samsung: $16.5B chip supply for next-gen AI chip. (Source: Reuters)

Conclusion

Apple’s potential investment in Intel remains speculative, but the buzz underlines how vital big-tech partnerships have become in the AI cloud and chip race. For Intel, winning Apple’s backing could signal real momentum in its turnaround, if the rumours turn to reality.

*Past performance does not indicate future results. The above are only projections and should not be taken as investment advice.