Fanny Potkin, Milana Vinn, Wen Yi Lee
SINGAPORE/NEW YORK/TAIPEI (Reuters) – TSMC has pitched US chip designers Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom on building stakes in a joint venture that operates Intel’s factory, according to four sources familiar with the issue.
Under the proposal, the Taiwanese chipmaking giant will run the operation of Intel’s Foundry division, which adapts chips to the needs of its customers, but sources said it doesn’t own more than 50%. Qualcomm is being marketed by TSMC, according to one of the sources and one of the other sources.
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The early speech came after President Donald Trump’s administration demanded that TSMC, the world’s leading contract chipmaker, helped turn the troubled US industry icon around, on condition of anonymity, sources said the meeting was not publicly available.
Details of TSMC’s plans are reported for the first time that it will take stakes of less than 50% and an overture to potential partners.
The final deal — its value is unknown — would require approval from the Trump administration, which does not want Intel or its casting unit to be entirely foreign-owned, sources said.
Intel, TSMC, Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm declined to comment. The White House and Broadcom did not respond to requests for comment.
At the crisis is the future of the US chip-making giant, whose stocks have lost more than half of their value last year.
Intel reported a net loss of $18.8 billion in 2024. This was driven by the first net obstacle since 1986. According to company submissions, Foundry Division’s real estate and plant equipment had earned a book value of $108 billion as of December 31st.
Trump wants to revive Inter’s fortune. He is trying to boost America’s advanced manufacturing, three sources say.
Sources said the TSMC’s joint venture was held to potential supporters before the Taiwanese chipmaker announced it to Trump on March 3.
Speaking about the joint venture around Intel’s Foundry Division, TSMC aims to have multiple chip designers as partners, three sources said.
While several companies have expressed interest in purchasing parts of Intel, two of the four sources said that the US company has rejected discussions about the sale of Chip Design Houses, separate from the Foundry Division.
Qualcomm has concluded previous discussions to buy all or part of Intel.
Members of the Intel board supported the deal and negotiated with the TSMC, but according to two sources, some executives are firmly opposed.
Intel’s contract manufacturing, or Foundry Division, was a key part of former CEO Pat Gelsinger’s efforts to save Intel. Gelsinger was kicked out by the board in December and appointed two interim co-CEOs who took away their upcoming AI chips.
The deal between historic rivals TSMC and Intel faces major challenges, costly and tedious. According to separate corporate sources, the companies currently use a very different set-up of processes, chemicals and chip-making tools at their factories.
Intel has previously established a manufacturing partnership with UMC in Taiwan and Israeli Tower Semiconductors, which can provide a precedent for both companies to operate together, but it remains unclear how such a partnership will function in terms of trade manufacturing secrets.
Taiwanese chipmakers hope that potential investors in the joint venture will also be Intel Advanced Manufacturing customers, according to one of the sources.
Last week, Reuters reported that Nvidia and Broadcom were using Intel to perform manufacturing tests using the company’s most advanced production technology known as the 18A. AMD also evaluates whether Intel’s 18A manufacturing process is suitable for it.
However, 18A is the territory of conflict in negotiations between Intel and TSMC, two sources said. During a talk in February, an Intel executive told TSMC that the advanced 18A manufacturing technology is superior to TSMC’s two-nanometer process, according to its sources.
(Reporting by Fannie Potkin of Singapore, Milana Vinn, Annealvan Sen of New York, Karen Freefield, Wen Yi Lee of Taipei, and Max A. Chernie and Stephen Nellis of San Francisco.
