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

The chipmaker Qualcomm has approached its rival Intel in recent days about the possibility of acquiring the slumping Silicon Valley giant, two people familiar with the matter said Friday, requesting anonymity because the talks were confidential.

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 approaches Intel for a potential acquisition, but regulatory hurdles and Intel's struggling foundry business may complicate the deal.

Is this from the same gossips who were wrong about Altera and Mobileye or the DoJ subpoenaing Nvidia? Comment Qualcomm may be after more than Intel's PC design business as it has supposedly approached the x86 giant about a possible takeover.

A new report states that Qualcomm is interested in acquiring Intel and that the former company has approached Intel about the possible acquisition. This would make Qualcomm a much larger player in the industry than it already is.