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

U.S. Stock Listings Eyed Next Year

Rare Move to Take Stakes in Customers

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans to invest up to $1 billion to buy shares in artificial intelligence model developers Anthropic and OpenAI ahead of their initial public offerings. The move is unusual for TSMC because it involves taking equity stakes in customers.

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

TSMC will obtain its Anthropic stake by participating in a $26 billion private placement tied to Anthropic's IPO, scheduled for Nov. 19. Seven companies are expected to take part, 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 acquired by those companies will be non-voting common stock.

TSMC plans to acquire OpenAI shares, ahead of the company's planned listing next year, at $992 apiece. Its stake is expected to be less than 0.04%. The company plans to buy as many as 504,000 shares. The securities are preferred shares with conversion rights and priority in residual asset distributions.

TSMC's board also approved the creation 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 two companies are pursuing development of their own custom AI chips. TSMC can supply semiconductors to them while also seeking investment returns from growth in the AI industry through its equity stakes.

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