TSMC Approves Up to $1 Billion in Stakes in OpenAI and Anthropic
The chipmaker's direct investments tie a major contract manufacturer to the AI developers designing their own processors.
Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC has approved plans to invest up to $1 billion across two AI developers, OpenAI and Anthropic, with up to $500 million for each. The OpenAI portion is reported as preferred stock reserved for large investors, while the Anthropic portion would buy common shares at the company's expected IPO price. TSMC's board also authorized up to $500 million for a new vehicle to invest in semiconductor businesses and the wider industry. The move gives a contract manufacturer that already makes Apple's custom chips direct stakes in companies building their own processors, which matters for competition over advanced fabrication capacity. Analysts quoted by the Wall Street Journal cautioned that circular financing among investors, suppliers and customers makes it harder to judge genuine demand for AI hardware and services.
Why it matters
The deals give TSMC, which already makes Apple's custom chips, a financial stake in two companies building their own processors, so it now has interests on both sides of competition for advanced fabrication capacity. Analysts quoted by the Wall Street Journal warned that when investors, suppliers and customers finance one another, it becomes harder to judge how much real demand exists for AI hardware and services.
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