Intel, TSMC outline deal to form chipmaking venture, says report

Business news | April 4, 2025

By Peter Clarke

Intel foundry JV TSMC

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Struggling chip giant Intel and Taiwanese foundry TSMC have reached a preliminary agreement to form a joint venture to run Intel’s chip manufacturing plants, according to a report in The Information.

TSMC is set to take a 20 percent stake in the venture with Intel and US fabless chip companies holding the majority, the report said referencing unnamed sources. At least some but not necessarily all of Intel’s wafer fabs will be included under the venture, the report said as details are worked out.

The possibility of a deal was previously reported last month just as Lip-Bu Tan was taking over as CEO.

Intel appoints Lip-Bu Tan as CEO – as TSMC pitches JV

It was reported at the time that TSMC had been invited to come up with a plan by the Trump administration to try and resolve a long-running crisis at Intel which had been the world’s pre-eminent chip company.

TSMC has offered to share some of its manufacturing process technology with Intel in exchange for a 20 percent in the new company, The Information has reported. TSMC will also take control of manufacturing and training of workers in the venture’s wafer fabs.

TSMC has held talks with potential partners such as AMD, Broadcom and Nvidia, according to previous report. Each partner might hold a minority stake but in aggregate the majority would be owned by US headquartered companies, a condition likely imposed by the US government.

If the deal goes ahead it will be an example of rapid and radical decision making by Tan. In his first speech as Intel CEO Tan said he would sell-off non-core businesses but also re-iterated a promise to create a world class foundry operation out of Intel’s chip manufacturing capabilities.