TSMC's board approved up to $1 billion of Anthropic and OpenAI stakes alongside $40.93 billion of capacity
The foundry that swears it is a neutral supplier just bought into both AI labs, hours after an English write-up said it had no OpenAI stake. The equity is small next to the $40.93 billion of capacity it approved, and that is the point.
Richard Tangtwo-minute read
TSMC's+2.18% — TSMC, up 2.18 percent today board approved up to $500 million of Anthropic$350B — Anthropic, private, latest valuation $350B shares and up to $500 million of OpenAI$1.18T — OpenAI, private, latest valuation $1.18T preferred stock on November 10, alongside about $40.93 billion of new capital appropriations and a NT$9.0 per-share third-quarter dividend 1. The OpenAI stake is news: hours earlier, the only English write-up of the Anthropic deal said TSMC had announced no investment in OpenAI at all 3. The board resolution, filed at the SEC the same day, says otherwise 1.
The tension is that TSMC has spent a decade selling itself as a neutral foundry that does not compete with or bet on its customers. Now it holds equity in the two labs whose compute orders fill its fabs 1. Anthropic's own prospectus describes heavy reliance on TSMC manufacturing and Taiwan concentration as a risk, on top of nearly $900 billion in compute commitments 24. Suppliers owning their customer is circular by construction: Anthropic spends its raise on chips, and TSMC gets paid twice, as supplier and shareholder 4.
Read it as a hedge, not a bet
The $1 billion of equity is rounding error next to the $40.93 billion the board approved for advanced capacity, packaging and fab construction 1. If the Anthropic and OpenAI orders that justify that capacity arrive, the equity stakes mark the foundry's conviction; if AI demand wobbles, the shares are the only part of the bet that does not have to be depreciated.
TSMC's quarterly capex has more than doubled in three years, before the new $40.93 billion
Data
| Capex | |
|---|---|
| Q3 '23 | $7.02B |
| Q4 '23 | $5.53B |
| Q1 '24 | $5.66B |
| Q2 '24 | $6.32B |
| Q3 '24 | $6.55B |
| Q4 '24 | $11.13B |
| Q1 '25 | $10.02B |
| Q2 '25 | $10.17B |
| Q3 '25 | $9.43B |
| Q4 '25 | $11.4B |
| Q1 '26 | $10.9B |
| Q2 '26 | $15.55B |
The market is already pricing that doubt: TSMC sank 10% on November 5 with no company news, and a director bought $300,000 into that fall 6, while ETFs sold a net $191.2 million the next day 7. Demand has not wobbled: October sales rose nearly 60% year-on-year to a record 5.
TSMC's new capacity spend dwarfs its $1 billion of AI-lab equity
The equity stakes are a signal next to the fab spending, not a bet
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Capital appropriations | 40.93 |
| OpenAI preferred | 0.5 |
| Anthropic common | 0.5 |
The filing does not say how the $40.93 billion maps onto the $60-64 billion 2026 capex guidance, and it does not say whether the investment company in item four is a vehicle for more of this 1. That is the question the January earnings call has to answer. Until then, the board's own money says TSMC thinks the AI order book is real. Investors should note it believed that enough to own it, not just bill for it.
Get Chips by email, free
How AI demand is reshaping chipmakers, memory and the fabs behind them. In our daily email, every weekday.
