TSMC board approves up to $1 billion in OpenAI and Anthropic
Original title: Taiwan’s chipmaking giant TSMC to invest $1B in Anthropic, OpenAI
The plan splits $500 million of OpenAI preferred stock and $500 million of Anthropic shares at its expected IPO price.
TSMC's board approved plans to invest up to $1 billion in OpenAI and Anthropic, according to Reuters. That is up to $500 million in OpenAI preferred stock reserved for large investors and $500 million of Anthropic common shares at Anthropic's expected IPO price. The Wall Street Journal said the move could reassure markets while analysts warned circular financing among investors, suppliers, and customers makes AI hardware demand harder to judge. TSMC already fabricates most of Nvidia's AI data-center chips and most of Apple's custom chips.
Unconfirmed: The board approval and amounts are reported via Reuters; the article does not say the purchases have closed.
- Up to $500 million would go into OpenAI preferred stock for large investors.
- Another $500 million would buy Anthropic common shares at the expected IPO price.
- Journal-cited analysts warned circular financing obscures real demand for AI hardware.
- Most of TSMC's fabs are in Taiwan, with sites in Japan, China, Arizona, and a fab planned in Germany.
From the original article
1 min read at arstechnica.com
Latest example of the AI boom’s circular financing comes as AI trade wobbles.
By Jeremy Hsu · arstechnica.com
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