(Reuters) -Struggling chipmaker Intel ( INTC ) said on Thursday it had no plans to divest a majority stake in Mobileye, sparking an 8% rise in the self-driving tech firm's shares in premarket trading.

Shares of Mobileye had taken a beating earlier this month after Bloomberg reported that Intel ( INTC ) was looking to sell a portion of its stake in the company.

Mobileye's shares have fallen over 73% so far this year.

Intel ( INTC ) is struggling to free up money to reinvest in its business to compete with rivals such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, which have raced ahead in the production of AI chips.

Mobileye has also been grappling with choppy demand for its driver-assistance chips. The company had cut its annual revenue and profit forecasts in August, hit by weakness in China.

(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)