Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC is set to invest $1 billion in Anthropic and OpenAI, giving it direct stakes in two of the leading artificial intelligence developers. This move comes as the company’s contract chipmaking business has greatly benefited from the development of data centers dedicated to AI.
According to Reuters, TSMC’s board of directors has approved two tranches. The first involves an investment of up to $500 million in preferred shares of OpenAI, reserved for major investors. The second consists of buying $500 million worth of common shares in Anthropic, at their expected IPO price. Preferred shares are securities with special rights, and common shares are the basic equity securities.
The Wall Street Journal, which also reported the news, believes this announcement could offer markets “a breath of confidence as the artificial intelligence trend shows signs of strain.” The US newspaper notes, however, that analysts have warned of a risk of circular financing between investors, suppliers, and customers. According to the paper, this mechanism makes it difficult to assess the real demand for AI-related hardware and services.
A central role in the production chain
TSMC’s role in the ecosystem stems primarily from its manufacturing plants, called fabs. These sites physically produce the vast majority of Nvidia chips designed for AI data center workloads. They also manufacture most of Apple’s custom chips, used in iPhones, Mac laptops and desktops, as well as in the AI computing server the group plans to deploy.
The majority of these plants are located in Taiwan, but TSMC also operates sites in Japan and China. The company is also developing a manufacturing hub in the United States, in Arizona, which is being expanded, and is building a new plant in Germany.
