TSMC to Invest Up to $1 Billion in OpenAI, Anthropic

Hopes Rise for U.S. Listings Next Year

Rare Move to Take Stakes in Customers

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans to invest as much as $1 billion to buy shares in artificial intelligence model developers Anthropic and OpenAI, both of which are preparing for initial public offerings. The move is unusual for TSMC because the chipmaker is taking equity stakes in its own customers.

According to a TSMC filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 10, the board approved plans that day to invest up to $500 million each in Anthropic and OpenAI. TSMC plans to buy Anthropic shares at the IPO offering price and acquire preferred stock in OpenAI.

TSMC will acquire its Anthropic stake through a $26 billion private placement tied to Anthropic's IPO scheduled for Nov. 19. Seven companies in total are set to participate, including Google and Nvidia with $10 billion each, AMD with $2.5 billion, and Broadcom, Micron and Microsoft with $1 billion each. The Anthropic shares to be acquired by those companies will be non-voting common stock.

TSMC is set to buy OpenAI shares at $992 apiece as the company pursues a listing next year. Its stake is expected to be less than 0.04%. TSMC plans to acquire as many as 504,000 shares. The securities are preferred shares carrying conversion rights and liquidation preferences.

TSMC's board also approved the establishment of an investment company with up to $500 million to make strategic investments in the global semiconductor ecosystem. It will be the first time TSMC has set up a dedicated investment organization.

Anthropic and OpenAI are both TSMC customers. The companies are developing their own custom AI chips. By supplying semiconductors to both companies while also taking equity stakes, TSMC could benefit from investment gains tied to the growth of the AI industry.

Son Ju-hyung, Hankyung.com reporter handbro@hankyung.com