The US administration awarded Intel nearly $20 billion in grants and loans earlier this year in a bid to boost the company's domestic semiconductor chip output.
That agreement was for $8.5bn in grants and up to $11 billion in loans for Intel in Arizona, where it is looking to build two new factories and modernise an existing one.
However, sources close to the talks have warned that there is no guarantee that a deal would be finalised before the end of the year and have even suggested that rumours about a possible takeover of all or part of Intel's business could undermine those talks or, at least, delay them.
Qualcomm has reportedly approached Intel to explore a potential acquisition of the troubled chipmaker, while the British chip company Arm is said to have made an approach about potentially acquiring Intel’s product division.
None of this is helping Intel which is attempting to turn its business around as it focuses on developing AI processors and creating a chip contract manufacturing business.
