TSMC plans to establish a $500 million venture fund to back chip startups, according to a November 13, 2026, IT Home report citing Nikkei Asia. The fund could also invest in suppliers and other upstream partners, rather than focusing only on TSMC’s direct customers.
TSMC senior vice president and co-chief operating officer Kevin Zhang said the company wants a more formal investment mechanism as the AI industry grows. He said the aim is to broaden TSMC’s ecosystem and support emerging semiconductor companies alongside its established customers.
The proposed fund’s initial size is larger than the $200 million emerging-business fund TSMC established in 2021, which primarily helped startups use its advanced chipmaking technology. Zhang said TSMC could expand the new fund if needed.
Zhang also discussed plans to invest up to $500 million each in Anthropic and OpenAI. Including those potential investments, the 2021 fund and the new venture fund, TSMC’s total funding commitments could reach $1.7 billion. The report describes these as plans and commitments, not completed investments.