The move could be seen as a vote of confidence for Intel, which has been playing catch-up in an industry that has chased the artificial intelligence boom.

A $2 billion investment represents a roughly 2% stake, ranking SoftBank the fifth-largest shareholder of Intel, while a reported 10% stake by the U.S. would be worth about $10.4 billion as of Monday’s share price.

Key Takeaways Intel on Monday said Japanese investment giant SoftBank had agreed to buy $2 billion of the chipmaker's stock, boosting hope on Wall Street that the Trump administration and allies will throw the beleaguered chipmaker a lifeline.