India, Aug. 20 -- As SoftBank unveiled a $2 billion Intel investment Monday, the Financial Times reported that prior talks between founder Masayoshi Son and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan explored ways to back Team Blue's chipmaking business, including a potential outright buy of its foundry division-an option that ultimately fell through.

The investment in the struggling U.S. chip giant has stirred wide curiosity. At $23 a share-less than half the chipmaker's price at the end of 2023-the entry looks like a bargain, as Nikkei's Chinese edition points out. But, the scale of the bet, coupled with Intel's current struggles, suggests this could be more than a financial play. What strategic considerations might be driving Masayoshi Son's bold move?

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