TSMC, the world’s most valuable semiconductor company, is actually quite serious about wanting to run Intel’s foundry division, according to a new story that alleges the Taiwanese chip giant has pitched several top chip designers—namely, AMD, Broadcom, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm—about teaming up for a joint venture, one in which TSMC would operate Intel’s factories.
From a report, which noted that TSMC is planning to own no more than half of Intel’s apparently troubled division:
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.
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.
The report goes on to point out that the fate of this partnership will ultimately lie in the hands of U.S. President Donald Trump, who doesn’t seem to like the idea of a foreign company operating Intel’s U.S. factories:
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…
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.