Exclusive-TSMC pitched Intel foundry JV to Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom, sources say

By Fanny Potkin, Milana Vinn and Wen-Yee Lee

 

SINGAPORE/NEW YORK/TAIPEI (Reuters) - TSMC has pitched U.S. chip designers Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom about taking stakes in a joint venture that would operate Intel’s factories, according to four sources familiar with the matter.

 

Under the proposal, the Taiwanese chipmaking giant would run the operations of Intel’s foundry division, which makes chips adapted for the needs of customers, but it would not own more than 50%, the sources said. 

 

Qualcomm has also been pitched by TSMC, according to one of the sources and a separate source.

 

The talks, which are at an early stage, come after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration requested TSMC, the world’s leading contract chipmaker, assist in turning around the troubled U.S. industrial icon, the sources said on condition of anonymity because the talks are not public. 

 

The details of the plan for TSMC to take no more than a 50% stake and its overtures to potential partners are being reported for the first time.

 

Any final deal - the value of which is unclear - would need approval from the Trump administration, which does not want Intel or its foundry division to be fully foreign-owned, the sources said.

 

Intel, TSMC, Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm declined to comment. The White House and Broadcom did not respond to requests for comment. 

 

At stake is the future of the U.S. chipmaking giant, whose shares have lost more than half of their value in the last year.

 

Intel reported a 2024 net loss of $18.8 billion, its first since 1986, driven by large impairments. The foundry division’s property and plant equipment had a book value of $108 billion as of December 31, according to a company filing.

 

Trump is keen to revive Intel’s fortunes, as he seeks to boost American advanced manufacturing, three of the sources said.

 

The sources said TSMC’s joint venture pitch was made to potential backers before the Taiwanese chipmaker announced with Trump on March 3 that the company planned to make a fresh $100 billion investment in the United States that involves building five additional chip facilities there in coming years. 

 

Talks about the joint venture over Intel’s foundry division have since continued, the three sources said, with TSMC looking to have more than one chip designer as a partner.

 

Multiple companies have expressed interest in buying parts of Intel, but two of the four sources said the U.S. company has rejected discussions about selling its chip design house separately from the foundry division.

Qualcomm has exited earlier discussions to buy all or part of Intel, according to those people and a separate source. 

 

Intel board members have backed a deal and held negotiations with TSMC, while some executives are firmly opposed, according to two sources. 

 

Intel’s contract manufacturing business, or foundry division, was a crucial part of former CEO Pat Gelsinger’s effort to save Intel. Gelsinger was forced out by the board in December, which named two interim co-CEOs who have mothballed its forthcoming AI chip.

 

Any deals between historical rivals TSMC and Intel would face major challenges and be costly and laborious. The two companies currently use vastly different processes, chemicals, and chipmaking tool setups at their factories, according to separate sources at the companies.  

 

Intel has previously had manufacturing partnerships with Taiwan’s UMC and Israel’s Tower Semiconductor that could offer a precedent for the two companies to operate together, but it remains unclear how such a partnership would work regarding trade manufacturing secrets. 

 

The Taiwanese chipmaker wants potential investors in the joint venture to also be Intel advanced manufacturing customers, according to one of the sources.

 

Reuters reported last week, citing sources, that Nvidia and Broadcom are running manufacturing tests with Intel, using the company’s most advanced production techniques, known as 18A. AMD is also evaluating whether Intel’s 18A manufacturing process is suitable for it. 

 

But 18A has been an area of contention in negotiations between Intel and TSMC, two sources said. During talks in February, Intel executives told TSMC that its advanced 18A manufacturing technology was superior to TSMC’s 2-nanometer process, according to those sources.

 

(Reporting by Fanny Potkin in Singapore, Milana Vinn, Anirban Sen and Karen Freifield in New York, Wen-Yee Lee in Taipei, Max A. Cherney and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Editing by Kenneth Li and Jamie Freed)