TSMC Approves Up to US$500m Stakes in Anthropic and OpenAI

TSMC’s board on 10 November 2026 approved investment ceilings of up to US$500 million each in Anthropic and OpenAI, according to the company’s board resolutions and the same text filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as a Form 6-K. The directors “approved the investments in (1) Anthropic, PBC at its per share initial public offering price in an amount not to exceed US$500 million to acquire Anthropic’s common shares; and (2) OpenAI Group PBC in an amount not to exceed US$500 million to acquire OpenAI’s preferred stock.”

Those are authorisations, not completed purchases. The Anthropic line is explicitly tied to “its per share initial public offering price,” so any purchase of common shares depends on an IPO actually taking place at a price that can be used. TSMC gives no timetable, no stake size as a percentage, and no other terms. The OpenAI approval is a ceiling of the same dollar amount for preferred stock, again with no further terms in the notice. This is not investment advice, and it should not be read as a forecast of either company’s listing or valuation.

The same meeting approved a third, separate ceiling: “the investment of no more than US$500 million in the establishment of an investment company for the purpose of making strategic investments in the semiconductor industry and related ecosystem.” Alongside that, the board approved capital appropriations of “approximately US$40,926.70 million,” mainly for advanced technology and packaging capacity, fab construction and facility systems, and 2027 research, sustaining and leased-asset spending.

A second Form 6-K the same day reported October 2026 consolidated revenue of “approximately NT$586.89 billion,” “an increase of 14.7 percent from September 2026 and an increase of 59.7 percent from October 2025.” Revenue for January through October 2026 was NT$4,485.62 billion, up 43.3 percent on the same period in 2025. The board also approved third-quarter 2026 consolidated revenue of NT$1,494.24 billion, net income of NT$763.06 billion, diluted earnings per share of NT$29.43, and a NT$9.0 per share cash dividend for the quarter.

Ceilings, an IPO condition, and a much larger capex line

The AI-lab figures are easy to over-read. US$500 million is the cap in each case, not a statement that TSMC has bought, or will necessarily spend, that amount. For Anthropic, the price is the IPO price, which the company’s roadshow has already begun to put in front of investors. Until there is an offering, that approval cannot be exercised on the terms TSMC has published. For OpenAI, the instrument is preferred stock, not a public listing described in the notice.

Some press coverage has described the combination of a foundry investing in the same AI labs that buy its wafers as “circular financing.” That phrase is not in TSMC’s resolutions or in either 6-K. It is press framing, and it should be kept in that box. What the company has actually disclosed is a pair of investment ceilings, a third ceiling for a new semiconductor investment company, and a capital-appropriations figure of about US$40.9 billion that is two orders of magnitude larger than either AI stake cap.

That capex line sits in a familiar TSMC pattern: the company is still spending to add and upgrade capacity, including advanced packaging, while it also makes smaller, defined financial commitments around the ecosystem that uses those wafers. Nvidia has already asked memory suppliers to make NVHBM base dies at TSMC, a reminder that the foundry’s role in the AI supply chain is still, first, manufacturing. The agreed purchase of AUO’s Taichung plant is another capacity decision from the same company, of a different kind from a financial stake in a model lab.

An approval is not a completed share purchase

The accurate way to report 10 November is narrower than “TSMC is investing $500 million in Anthropic and OpenAI.” The board has authorised up to that amount in each company, in different instruments, and has authorised up to US$500 million more for a new semiconductor investment vehicle. The Anthropic purchase, as written, waits on an IPO price. No closing, no timetable and no completed transaction is in the official notices. The October revenue figure, up 59.7 percent year on year, and the roughly US$40.93 billion of capital appropriations, are the larger pieces of the same day’s disclosure.

The facts to watch are an Anthropic IPO that would make the common-share approval operative, any later filing that shows a completed OpenAI preferred purchase, and the formation of the new investment company. Until those appear, these are board-approved ceilings from a Taiwan foundry, not finished deals. None of the three US$500 million lines should be added together and treated as money already spent.

Sources

1. TSMC, “TSMC Board of Directors Meeting Resolutions,” 10 November 2026. https://pr.tsmc.com/english/news/3352
2. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, Form 6-K, board resolutions, 10 November 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1046179/000104617926000797/tsm-boardx202611xx.htm
3. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, Form 6-K, October 2026 revenue, 10 November 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1046179/000104617926000796/tsm-revenue20261110.htm

Related stories

Anthropic Starts IPO Roadshow at an Expected $70–$78 a Share is the reason TSMC’s Anthropic ceiling is written as an IPO-price approval, not as a purchase already made.

Also relevant:

• Nvidia Asks Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron to Make NVHBM Base Dies at TSMC
• AUO Sells Taichung Plant to TSMC for NT$38.8bn, Ends Quanta Deal