---
title: "TSMC pays its old courtroom rival $2 billion to move an AI chip bottleneck to New York"
description: "GlobalFoundries becomes the first U.S. supplier of the silicon interposer, the wiring board inside the Nvidia AI accelerators TSMC packages with CoWoS, under a five-year, $2 billion deal. It builds the New York line now and waits until 2028 for the revenue."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Silicon"
published: 2026-10-12T13:15:53.999Z
modified: 2026-10-12T13:15:53.999Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/tsmc-pays-its-old-courtroom-rival-2-billion-to-move-an-ai-chip-bottleneck-to-new-york
language: en
keywords: "TSMC, GlobalFoundries, Nvidia, Advanced Packaging, Semiconductors, Supply Chain"
---

# TSMC pays its old courtroom rival $2 billion to move an AI chip bottleneck to New York

> GlobalFoundries becomes the first U.S. supplier of the silicon interposer, the wiring board inside the Nvidia AI accelerators TSMC packages with CoWoS, under a five-year, $2 billion deal. It builds the New York line now and waits until 2028 for the revenue.

## The wiring board that never left Taiwan

A silicon interposer is a slice of processed silicon carrying the wiring between an AI accelerator's logic dies and its memory stacks. It is the core of chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, the CoWoS packaging [TSMC](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/tsmc) uses on products including [Nvidia](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/nvidia)'s AI accelerators, and until this deal every one was made in Taiwan [3].

On October 8 [GlobalFoundries](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/globalfoundries) [said it will build interposers at its fab in Malta, New York](https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/globalfoundries-to-make-key-ai-chip-component-for-tsmc-in-2-billion-deal/ar-AA2dOEnj), under a five-year agreement worth about $2 billion, with volume production ramping in the first half of 2028 [1][2]. Malta becomes the first U.S.-based source of the part, and [GlobalFoundries](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001709048) shares rose as much as 7 percent on the news [1][4].

## A bottleneck answered only in 2028

[Advanced packaging has become a major constraint on AI chip production](https://theinference.org/article/nvidia-prepays-1-5-billion-to-skip-the-ai-packaging-queue-america-will-relieve-in-2028), with demand exceeding available capacity [1]. When TSMC began producing Blackwell, Nvidia's current AI-chip generation, at its Arizona plant last year, the finished product still went back to Taiwan for assembly [5].

The other U.S. fixes also wait: [a CoWoS-compatible line at Amkor, an outsourced chip assembly and test provider, is expected online in 2028](https://theinference.org/article/korea-unblocked-amkor-s-next-factory-in-two-days-nvidia-s-1-5-billion-arrives-in-2027), and TSMC's own Arizona packaging plant in 2029 [5]. Malta joins that queue.

## The rival TSMC sued in 2019

GlobalFoundries [sued first on August 26, 2019](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GlobalFoundries), naming TSMC and 20 other defendants, Nvidia and [Apple](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/apple) among them, distributors included, in U.S. and German courts [6]. TSMC countersued on October 1 in the United States, Germany and Singapore; the two settled on October 29 under a life-of-patents cross-license [6]. The license left them free to trade, and the new deal makes GlobalFoundries a supplier to the company it sued.

## Spend now, get paid in 2028

Two billion dollars across five years averages roughly $400 million a year if the value spreads evenly, about 6 percent of the $6.94 billion GlobalFoundries booked over the past four quarters, and none of it arrives before 2028 [1][7]. The spending arrives earlier: [second-quarter capital expenditure was $411 million, up 158 percent year over year](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001709048) and four times the 2024 low [7].

The customers are already spending: GlobalFoundries' combined communications-infrastructure and data-center end market [rose 60 percent year over year in the second quarter](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/globalfoundries-tsmc-reach-2b-deal-151936994.html) [2].

*Chart: **GlobalFoundries capex has quadrupled from its 2024 low, before any interposer revenue** Line chart of GlobalFoundries quarterly capital expenditure from Q3 2023 to Q2 2026 in billions of dollars, falling to 0.101 in Q2 2024 then rising to 0.411 in Q2 2026*

*Quarterly capital expenditure in USD billions, from GlobalFoundries SEC filings. The $2 billion TSMC agreement starts booking revenue in 2028. [7]*

## Malta's new line depends on one buyer and one wiring design

Silicon interposers are not the only way to wire a package. CoWoS-R replaces the interposer with redistribution wiring; CoWoS-L keeps only local silicon bridges; neither company has publicly limited the deal to one variant [8]. Intel Foundry already sells CoWoS-comparable packaging that accepts TSMC-made silicon [5].

If packaging drifts away from the interposer, or TSMC's own Arizona plant takes the work, Malta is left with one customer's forecast [5][8]. The offset is a built-in framework to add capacity as demand grows [1][8].

## The CoWoS question lands on TSMC's October 15 call

TSMC is expected to post a [sixth straight record quarter](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/tsmc-expected-to-report-sixth-straight-quarter-of-record-profit-thanks-to-ai-boom/ar-AA2e2vgt) after [third-quarter revenue of NT$1.49 trillion](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/tsmc-q3-2026-revenue-hits-114521388.html), up about 39 percent from a year earlier on the company's own disclosure [9][10]. The call on October 15 brings fourth-quarter guidance, gross-margin and 2027 AI-demand questions, against a capex budget raised in July to $60 billion to $64 billion [9][11]. The CoWoS question lands there.

*Chart: **TSMC revenue has set a record in eight of the last nine quarters** Line chart of TSMC quarterly revenue in US dollars from Q3 2023 to Q2 2026, rising from $16.9 billion to $39.8 billion, with a record in eight of the last nine quarters*

*Quarterly revenue in US dollars as converted in TSMC's SEC filings, retrieved 12 October 2026; TSMC reports in NT dollars. Its disclosed third-quarter revenue of NT$1.49 trillion, up about 39 percent year over year, lands with the October 15 earnings call. [12]*

## Takeaway

GlobalFoundries will build the silicon interposers at the heart of TSMC's CoWoS packaging at Malta, New York, the first US source of a part made until now only in Taiwan. The five-year, $2 billion deal books no revenue until 2028, about $400 million a year on average.

## Sources

1. [Reuters, "GlobalFoundries to make key AI chip component for TSMC in $2 billion deal", 8 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/globalfoundries-to-make-key-ai-chip-component-for-tsmc-in-2-billion-deal/ar-AA2dOEnj)
2. [Yahoo Finance (Manufacturing Dive), "GlobalFoundries and TSMC reach $2B deal for US-based silicon interposers", 9 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/globalfoundries-tsmc-reach-2b-deal-151936994.html)
3. [Seoul Economic Daily (English), "TSMC Taps GlobalFoundries for $2 Billion in U.S.-Made AI Chip Parts", 12 October 2026](https://en.sedaily.com/international/2026/10/12/tsmc-taps-globalfoundries-for-2-billion-in-us-made-ai-chip)
4. [Crypto Briefing, "GlobalFoundries shares climb as much as 7% on $2 billion TSMC interposer deal", 8 October 2026](https://cryptobriefing.com/globalfoundries-tsmc-2-billion-interposer-deal/)
5. [The Register, "TSMC taps GlobalFoundries to bolster US silicon interposer production in $2B deal", 8 October 2026](https://www.theregister.com/systems/2026/10/08/tsmc-taps-globalfoundries-to-bolster-us-silicon-interposer-production-in-2b-deal/5302061)
6. [Wikipedia, "GlobalFoundries", accessed 12 October 2026](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GlobalFoundries)
7. [GlobalFoundries, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 12 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001709048)
8. [AnySilicon, "GlobalFoundries Wins $2 Billion TSMC CoWoS Interposer Deal, Expanding U.S. Advanced Packaging Supply", 9 October 2026](https://anysilicon.com/news/globalfoundries-wins-2-billion-tsmc-cowos-interposer-deal-expanding-u-s-advanced-packaging-supply/)
9. [Reuters, "TSMC expected to report sixth straight quarter of record profit thanks to AI boom", 12 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/tsmc-expected-to-report-sixth-straight-quarter-of-record-profit-thanks-to-ai-boom/ar-AA2e2vgt)
10. [Yahoo Finance (Quartz), "TSMC Q3 2026 revenue hits record on AI chip demand", 8 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/tsmc-q3-2026-revenue-hits-114521388.html)
11. [Stocktwits via TradingView, "Stocktwits Tech Watch: ASML, TSMC Earnings This Week And Apple's Next Home Play", 12 October 2026](https://www.tradingview.com/news/stocktwits:88bacafd8094b:0-stocktwits-tech-watch-asml-tsmc-earnings-this-week-and-apple-s-next-home-play/)
12. [TSMC, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 12 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001046179)


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TSMC pays its old courtroom rival $2 billion to move an AI chip bottleneck to New York — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/tsmc-pays-its-old-courtroom-rival-2-billion-to-move-an-ai-chip-bottleneck-to-new-york