TSMC CEO Squashes Intel Joint Venture Rumors in Q1 2025 Earnings Call

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s chief executive has directly refuted reports suggesting the chipmaking giant was negotiating a manufacturing joint venture with competitor Intel.

Responding specifically to a question about the persistent rumors during TSMC’s first-quarter 2025 earnings call on April 17, CEO C.C. Wei stated unequivocally, “TSMC is not engaged in any discussion with other companies regarding any joint venture, technology licensing or technology.” This denial aims to quash speculation stemming from an early April report by The Information.

The now-refuted report from April 3, covered by outlets including Winbuzzer, outlined a supposed preliminary agreement where TSMC would potentially take a 20% or 21% stake in Intel’s manufacturing division.

Such a deal was positioned as a strategic move to bolster Intel, providing access to TSMC’s manufacturing know-how and helping train Intel’s workforce following Intel’s reported $18.8 billion loss in 2024. News of the potential tie-up initially gave Intel’s stock a nearly 7% lift following that announcement, suggesting some market appetite for such a scenario. Intel had previously declined to comment when asked about the alleged discussions.

A Pattern of Denials

This wasn’t the first time TSMC addressed rumors about closer ties with Intel this year. In March 2025, reports from Asia Financial and others, citing sources like DigiTimes, suggested TSMC might consider forming a consortium – potentially involving Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom – to operate Intel foundries, or even acquire the business outright.

Speculation also arose, reported by Bloomberg, that the US government under President Trump was encouraging TSMC to assist Intel as part of a push for domestic chip production. TSMC board members denied these earlier reports in March. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also denied being approached about participating in such a consortium around the same time. Wei’s statement on the April 17 earnings call represents the most direct and high-level dismissal of any such Intel collaboration to date.

TSMC Projects Growth Amid Industry Pressures

The denial came as TSMC presented strong first-quarter financials for 2025, reporting net revenue of $25.53 billion – a 35.3% year-over-year increase fueled by high demand for AI chips, according to its earnings release. The company maintained its capital expenditure forecast for the year between $38 billion and $42 billion and projects overall 2025 revenue growth around 20% in US dollar terms. This financial health contrasts with Intel’s recent difficulties and may reduce any perceived need for TSMC to partner deeply with its rival’s foundry arm.

During the call, TSMC CFO Wendell Huang confirmed progress at the company’s substantial Arizona investment, a project fitting within the US government’s push via the CHIPS and Science Act to increase domestic semiconductor production.

Huang noted the first Arizona fab (using the 4nm process, referring to the size of transistors, a key metric for chip density and performance) is in volume production with good yields, while the second Arizona fab (planned for 3nm) construction is complete and progressing towards production readiness.

CEO Wei elaborated that global expansion decisions are based on customer demand, ensuring supply chain flexibility amidst geopolitical situations, and the availability of government support, not solely tariff avoidance. The company explicitly mentioned “uncertainties and risks” related to potential US tariff policies and ongoing US export controls affecting key clients.

Intel’s Path Forward

While TSMC continues its manufacturing expansion, Intel pushes forward with its own foundry ambitions, centered around its developing 18A process node (representing an 1.8nm class process). This node incorporates technologies like RibbonFET gate-all-around transistors (a newer transistor structure for better control and lower leakage) and PowerVia backside power delivery (moving power connections to the back of the chip to improve signal integrity and transistor density), aimed at improving performance and efficiency.

However, Intel still faces the challenge of regaining market share and matching the production scale and reliability demonstrated by TSMC, especially in the established 3nm and upcoming 2nm classes where TSMC currently leads. The now-denied joint venture rumor highlighted the perceived gap Intel needs to close, but Wei’s comments indicate TSMC intends to proceed without such a direct operational tie-up with Intel’s factories.

Even with the denial, some analysts like Bernstein’s Stacy Rasgon had previously expressed skepticism about the strategic value for Intel in relying heavily on a primary competitor.