TSMC (NYSE: TSM) will buy up to $500 million of Anthropic shares and up to $500 million of OpenAI stock, under approvals granted by its board on Tuesday. The decisions make the world's largest contract chipmaker a direct investor in two rival artificial intelligence companies just as both are raising money. Both companies also rely, at least indirectly, on TSMC's factories. Combined, the two commitments are worth up to $1 billion, giving the foundry an ownership stake in companies on the demand side of its own manufacturing business.

Board approval disclosed in SEC filing

A filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on November 10 shows that TSMC's board has decided to buy Anthropic common shares at the price set in Anthropic's initial public offering (IPO), for a total of up to $500 million. The same filing states that TSMC will purchase up to $500 million of OpenAI preferred stock.

Anthropic made its IPO paperwork public on October 26 and began meeting investors on November 9. The plan was to price the deal the following week and list before Thanksgiving. The company reportedly aimed to raise up to $100 billion at a $2 trillion valuation, though one shareholder wanted a value closer to $1 trillion. Where that pricing settles will set the entry point for the $500 million of Anthropic shares TSMC has committed to buy.

Anthropic's third-quarter revenue was $16.8 billion, up 45% from the previous quarter, a slower increase than the triple-digit growth recorded earlier in the year. Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) are running the deal, and TSMC will pay whatever price they set.

OpenAI's funding round

OpenAI reportedly closed about $11 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation, with the funds transferred on Friday, November 6. The round could still grow to about $20 billion in the coming weeks. Cryptopolitan previously reported that OpenAI first sought $30 billion or more at a $1.4 trillion valuation. The target fell as investors grew nervous about AI infrastructure spending and possible data-center rules after the U.S. midterm elections.

OpenAI plans to go public in 2027, and President Greg Brockman has pointed to that year as realistic. Notably, OpenAI already sent chip designs to TSMC for manufacturing in February 2025, as part of an effort to depend less on Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). The equity approval thus layers an investment position on top of a manufacturing relationship that began nearly two years earlier.

Board spending approvals and financial results

TSMC's board has also approved about $40.9 billion in spending for 2027, along with another $500 million for an investment company focused on the chip supply chain, according to the company's announcement. Taken together with the equity approvals, the board's recent decisions direct capital toward manufacturing capacity, a chip-supply-chain investment vehicle, and direct positions in AI companies.

The company's finances are growing rapidly, with a reported $46.72 billion in third-quarter revenue. That figure represents a 50.9% increase from a year earlier. Net profit was about $23.86 billion, or about $0.92 per share. For scale, each $500 million equity commitment is worth roughly 1% of a single quarter's revenue.

TSMC's October sales alone added up to about $18.35 billion, up 59.7% from October 2025, according to the company's monthly report. The board also set a cash dividend of about $0.28 per share for the quarter.