Non-competes are not enforced in California.
My speculation is maybe their talks with Huawei were more fruitful than known to the public.
True story: I was born in a opressive communist dictatorship, escaped with my family to freedom and democracy. It's very hard to observe the vanguard of democratic capitalism, become 99% communist, with a couple guys in California rounding the corners and painting the boxes...
Who will be your first option for supplier of 5G PHY chips other than standard's original authors?