Connect with us

Published

on

Pat Gelsinger, CEO, of Intel Corporation, testifies during the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on semiconductors titled Developing Next Generation Technology for Innovation, in Russell Senate Office Building on Wednesday, March 23, 2022.

Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

Intel is looking to sell at least a minority stake in its Altera unit in a transaction that would raise several billion dollars in cash for the struggling chipmaker, according to people familiar with the matter.

Intel is looking for a deal that values Altera at around $17 billion, said the people, who requested anonymity to speak freely about confidential information. Intel purchased Altera for $16.7 billion in 2015.

Following a steep drop in its stock price and extended stretch of market share losses, Intel has been looking to make drastic changes. The company made overtures to a number of private equity and strategic investors this week about Altera, the sources said. Intel has expressed to some of those investors that it would be possible to acquire a majority stake in the business.

A representative for Intel declined to comment. The sale process represents an abrupt change from Intel’s prior commentary on Altera. As recently last month, CEO Pat Gelsinger said that Intel’s leadership considered the business to be a core part of Intel’s future.

Intel has previously said it could look to monetize Altera business through an IPO, possibly as soon as 2026. But the idea of taking strategic or private equity investment would be a marked acceleration of those plans.

Gelsinger and his leadership team have previously said that Intel understands its disadvantaged position and is working aggressively to remedy it. Selling a stake in Altera might allow Intel to more easily pursue its semiconductor fabrication ambitions and assure investors that it has a future as an independent company.

But the sale process also comes as Qualcomm has expressed interest in acquiring its onetime rival, a deal that would face fierce regulatory scrutiny and potentially reshape the semiconductor industry.

Intel shares have dropped 50% this year, as the company has been trounced by Nvidia in artificial intelligence chips and has lost share to Advanced Micro Devices in its core PC and data center market.

WATCH: Biggest impediment to any acquisition of Intel is regulators

Biggest impediment to any acquisition for Intel is regulatory approval, says Wolfe's Chris Caso

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

Continue Reading

Technology

CNBC Daily Open: Beauty is in the eye of the U.S. jobs report beholder

Published

on

By

CNBC Daily Open: Beauty is in the eye of the U.S. jobs report beholder

Business representatives staff a table at a career fair in Harlem hosted by Assemblymember Jordan Wright on Dec. 10, 2025, in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

The U.S. November jobs report has something for everybody.

Those convinced of weakness will highlight the higher-than-expected unemployment rate as well as the number of jobs shrinking in October.

On the other hand, proponents of a strong economy will focus on jobs growth in November beating estimates, and point out that the increase in the unemployment rate was mostly because the labor force grew, as CNBC’s Jeff Cox noted.

Without any definitive judgment that can be made on the state of the labor market, traders left their bets on interest rate cuts in January mostly unchanged. It’s currently at 25.5%, around one percentage point higher than before the release of the November jobs report, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

“Today’s data paints a picture of an economy catching its breath,” said Gina Bolvin, president at Bolvin Wealth Management Group. “Job growth is holding on, but cracks are forming. Consumers are still standing, but not sprinting.”

That ambivalence was reflected in markets as well. Major U.S. indexes were mixed: The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.24% and 0.62% respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite registered a mild gain of 0.23%, thanks to Tesla stock closing at an all-time high.

Whether you’re a bull or a bear, Tuesday’s tea leaves will show you what you want to see — but beware confirmation bias.

What you need to know today

And finally…

A general view looking past Tower Bridge toward Residential and commercial skyscrapers in Canary Wharf on June 26, 2025 in London, United Kingdom.

John Keeble | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Continue Reading

Technology

OpenAI in talks with Amazon about investment that could exceed $10 billion

Published

on

By

OpenAI in talks with Amazon about investment that could exceed  billion

Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., during a media tour of the Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Texas, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.

Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images

OpenAI is in discussions with Amazon about a potential investment and an agreement to use its artificial intelligence chips, CNBC confirmed on Tuesday.

The details are fluid and still subject to change but the investment could exceed $10 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the talks are confidential. The Information first reported on the potential deal.

The discussions come after OpenAI completed a restructuring in October and formally outlined the details of its partnership with Microsoft, giving it more freedom to raise capital and partner with companies across the broader AI ecosystem.

Microsoft has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI and backed the company since 2019, but it no longer has a right of first refusal to be OpenAI’s compute provider, according to an October release. OpenAI can now also develop some products with third parties.

Amazon has invested at least $8 billion into OpenAI rival Anthropic, but the e-commerce giant could be looking to expand its exposure to the booming generative AI market. Microsoft has taken a similar step and announced last month that it will invest up to $5 billion into Anthropic, while Nvidia will invest up to $10 billion in the startup.

Amazon Web Services has been designing its own AI chips since around 2015, and the hardware has become crucial for AI companies that are trying to train models and meet growing demand for compute. AWS announced its Inferentia chips in 2018, and the latest generation of its Trainium chips earlier this month.

OpenAI has made more than $1.4 trillion of infrastructure commitments in recent months, including agreements with chipmakers Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom. Last month, OpenAI signed a deal to buy $38 billion worth of capacity from AWS, its first contract with the leader in cloud infrastructure leader.

In October, OpenAI finalized a secondary share sale totaling $6.6 billion, allowing current and former employees to sell stock at a $500 billion valuation.

WATCH: Oracle says there have been ‘no delays’ in OpenAI arrangement after stock slide

Oracle says there have been 'no delays' in OpenAI arrangement after stock slide

Continue Reading

Technology

Shares of Chinese chipmaker MetaX soar nearly 700% in blockbuster Shanghai debut

Published

on

By

Shares of Chinese chipmaker MetaX soar nearly 700% in blockbuster Shanghai debut

Narumon Bowonkitwanchai | Moment | Getty Images

Shares of Chinese chipmaker MetaX Integrated Circuits soared about 700% in their market debut in Shanghai on Wednesday, after the company raised nearly $600 million in its initial public offering.

Shares, which were priced at 104.66 yuan in the IPO, surged to over 835 yuan on debut, marking a 697% jump.

Similar to Moore Threads, which saw a robust debut at the start of the month, MetaX develops graphics processing units for artificial intelligence applications, tapping into a fast-growing sector driven by rising adoption of AI services.

MetaX is part of a growing cohort of local chipmakers building AI processors, reflecting Beijing’s push to reduce dependence on U.S. chips following Washington’s tech curbs on export of high-end technology to China.

Washington has imposed export curbs on U.S. chip behemoth Nvidia, barring sales of its most advanced AI chips to China.

Newer Chinese players such as Enflame Technology and Biren Technology have also entered the AI space, aiming to capture a share of the billions in graphics processing unit, or GPU, demand no longer served by Nvidia. Chinese regulators have also been clearing more semiconductor IPOs in their drive for greater AI independence.

Earlier this month, shares of Moore Threads, a Beijing-based GPU manufacturer often referred to as “China’s Nvidia,” soared by more than 400% on its debut in Shanghai following its $1.1 billion listing.

Macquarie’s equity analyst Eugene Hsiao said investor enthusiasm around Chinese AI-chip IPOs such as MetaX is partly shaped by longer-term expectations that China will build a self-sufficient semiconductor ecosystem as tensions with the U.S. persist.

“For that to work, you need these players. You need names like Moore Threads, Meta X, etc,” he said.

“So I think when investors are looking at these IPOs, they implicitly are thinking about the nationalistic element,” Hsiao noted, adding that the main driver of the frenzy, however, was the firms’ growth potential.

— CNBC’s Dylan Butts contributed to this article.

Continue Reading

Trending