Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is staying hopeful that the frayed relationship with former long-time partner Apple could be salvaged.

"We will pursue opportunities with Apple," Gelsinger said on a conference call updating the company's business plans Tuesday evening. Gelsinger tells Yahoo Finance Live he has spoken with Apple CEO Tim Cook, and thinks there is an opportunity for Intel to help make Apple chips.

Recall it was late 2020 when Apple made the long-awaited decision to use chips designed in-house for its Macs. The tech giant's M1 chips are based on Arm architecture as opposed to Intel's x86 chips. The decision effectively ended Apple's roughly 15-year relationship with Intel.

Recently, the tech blogosphere has taken shots at Intel's' new "Go PC" ads in an apparent dig at Apple.

Gelsinger is also holding out hope that it makes strong strategic sense for Intel to continue to make its own chips internally as opposed to outsourcing the process.

The company — which has been pressured to outsource more of its chipmaking — revealed a plan to invest $20 billion to build two new factories in Arizona.

Gelsinger said during the conference call that he views Intel's internal chipmaking as a key strategic advantage. The comments on production echo those made by Gelsinger to investors soon after he started at Intel as CEO in late February.

To bring home the point, Gelsinger was joined on the digital stage by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna. Both expressed confidence in Gelsinger's plan to keep chipmaking in house.

Intel shares (INTC) rose about 3.6% in early trading on Wednesday.

Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.

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