TSMC approves up to $1 billion investment in OpenAI and Anthropic

The Taiwanese chipmaker has approved investments of up to $500 million each in OpenAI and Anthropic, extending its role in the AI industry beyond semiconductor manufacturing as demand for computing infrastructure continues to grow.

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Artificial intelligence's rapid expansion is reshaping the relationship between semiconductor manufacturers and the companies developing AI models. Chipmakers have benefited from rising demand for powerful processors, while AI developers continue to raise enormous amounts of capital to fund computing infrastructure and model development. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), already central to this supply chain, is now preparing to invest directly in two of its most prominent beneficiaries.

TSMC's board approved investments totaling up to $1 billion in OpenAI and Anthropic on November 10, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The company authorized up to $500 million to acquire Anthropic common shares at its initial public offering price and another $500 million to purchase preferred stock in OpenAI.

The approvals establish maximum investment amounts rather than confirming that the purchases have been completed. TSMC has not disclosed the ownership stakes it expects to receive or provided a timetable for completing the transactions.

Anthropic's IPO brings new investment opportunities

The decision comes as Anthropic prepares for one of the largest public offerings in stock market history. The developer of the Claude AI models is targeting an indicative share price of $70 to $78, potentially giving it a valuation of up to $1.4 trillion.

According to Reuters, Anthropic is also seeking $26 billion through a separate private placement involving investors including Google, Nvidia, AMD and Microsoft. The fundraising reflects the substantial capital required to develop advanced AI models and secure the computing resources needed to operate them.

TSMC's proposed investment would place the chipmaker among a growing group of technology companies holding financial interests in AI developers. Its participation is particularly notable because it already manufactures advanced semiconductors used in AI infrastructure, including processors designed by Nvidia.

For TSMC, the investments create another potential source of returns from the AI market beyond revenue from manufacturing chips. They do not, however, establish new semiconductor supply agreements or guarantee additional manufacturing orders.

AI demand continues to drive TSMC's growth

The investment approvals follow another period of strong financial performance for the Taiwanese manufacturer. TSMC reported October revenue of NT$586.89 billion, representing a 59.7% increase from the same month in 2025, according to its monthly revenue figures.

Revenue for the first ten months of 2026 increased 43.3% year over year, while the company expects full-year revenue growth of approximately 44% in US dollar terms.

TSMC also reported third-quarter revenue of $46.72 billion, up 41.2% from a year earlier. Commenting on those results in October, Wendell Huang, the company's senior vice president and chief financial officer, said: "Our business in the third quarter was supported by strong demand for our leading-edge process technologies."

Alongside the OpenAI and Anthropic investments, TSMC's board approved approximately $40.93 billion in capital appropriations covering advanced manufacturing, packaging capacity, factory construction and future research and development. It separately authorized up to $500 million to establish an investment company focused on the semiconductor industry and its wider ecosystem.

Growing exposure brings new risks

The investments arrive as concerns intensify over the financial sustainability of the AI industry's expansion. Developing and operating increasingly capable models requires substantial spending on chips, data centers, electricity and supporting infrastructure, raising questions about when those investments will produce consistent returns.

Anthropic's upcoming IPO is expected to test investor appetite for AI companies facing substantial infrastructure costs. Meanwhile, TSMC's exposure to the sector will increasingly extend beyond demand for its manufacturing services to the financial performance of the companies developing the models themselves.

The proposed investments underscore how closely connected AI developers, chipmakers and infrastructure suppliers have become. For TSMC, the opportunity is to participate more directly in the growth of AI software companies, while accepting some of the investment risks associated with that expansion.