TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Intel has reportedly reached out to TSMC as the US chipmaker seeks external backing amid financial struggles.

The Wall Street Journal cited sources on Thursday saying Intel has contacted TSMC to discuss a potential investment or production partnership, per CNA. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that Intel was in talks with Apple to seek investment.

According to the WSJ, Intel began pursuing external investment even before US President Donald Trump turned his attention to the company last month. However, the effort accelerated after the US government acquired a 10% stake in Intel.

Last week, Nvidia announced a US$5 billion investment in Intel, resulting in a roughly 4% stake in the company. In August, Intel also secured a US$2 billion capital injection from SoftBank Group.

Intel has poured billions of dollars into building its foundry business. However, it has struggled to compete with TSMC and failed to attract significant customers.

In April, US tech news site The Information reported that Intel and TSMC had discussed a preliminary joint venture agreement under which TSMC would hold a 20% stake in the new company. That month, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said he had recently met with TSMC CEO C.C. Wei (魏哲家) to “try to find areas we can collaborate and so that we can create a win-win situation," per Reuters.