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.

Qualcomm Inc. has approached Intel Corp. to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever M&A deals.