Intel and the U.S. government will likely finalise $8.5 billion in direct funding for the chipmaker before the end of the year, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the discussions.

In March 2024, the Biden Administration and Intel signed a preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) for the $8.5 billion funding. This support package is part of Intel’s larger commitment to invest more than $100 billion in expanding its US manufacturing footprint, including building new chip plants in Arizona, Ohio, Oregon, and New Mexico.

Chipmaker is seeking ways to shore up its business although potential takeover approaches could complicate talks

Struggling chipmaker Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) continues to receive takeover proposals from chip companies, the latest being Arm Holdings Plc (NASDAQ:ARM) following Qualcomm Inc‘s (NASDAQ:QCOM) proposal earlier.

It's one of the company's two main divisions, with the other being its Intel Foundry Services (IFS) manufacturing arm. Early this year, Intel divided its operations in this way as part of a broader restructuring effort.

Earlier this week, the news outlet reported that Apollo Global Management had offered to invest as much as $5 billion in Intel, days after The Wall Street Journal said that Qualcomm had made a "takeover approach" for it.