Apollo’s offer comes shortly after news that chipmaking rival Qualcomm has approached Intel to explore a friendly acquisition.

U.S.-based asset management company Apollo Global Management has offered to make an investment of as much as $5 billion in Intel , Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.

The argument that Intel is cheap, which potential bidders like Qualcomm and Apollo seem to believe, is premised on the idea that the stock is temporarily impaired, and that the company itself is uniquely well positioned because of the boom in AI and surging demand for chip manufacturing capacity, especially in the U.S.