Even if Intel gets bought out, it'll be in pieces. Nobody wants to enter the x86 market, but there may be smaller segmenrs of the business that can help an ARM based business, or someone looking to get into GPU's.
If the ISA patent licenses opened up, that might not be the case. When the topic comes up, it's more about Intel shutting down license transfers, so naturally companies have avoided x86.
Why would Intel "fold"? Their revenue is still 2x higher than AMDs... I mean obviously they are not doing great but its silly to say something like that at this point.
Having a sole supplier for CPUs is a bad strategy.
- A token legal remnant of Intel, with 0 employees or properties, might suffice to keep that license ticking.
- If the stakes appeared to be "or America will lose it's ability to make computers", then the government might find a judge willing to sign off on just about any sort of counterfactual, "because national security".
Why would AMD want a merger? They aren't a charity, and certainly don't need the distraction.