[News] Shocking Yet Feasible: U.S. Reportedly Pushes TSMC-Intel Joint Venture to Boost Domestic Chipmaking

TSMC hasn’t announced any U.S. expansion plans at the board meeting yesterday, but rumors are swirling on Wall Street. Reports from the Wall Street Journal and ijiwei suggest the U.S. is pushing the foundry giant and Intel to form a joint venture to co-own and develop multiple chip foundries.

Citing a note from Baird, Wccftech provides more details on the speculation. As per the report, Asian supply chain talks suggest the U.S. may push TSMC to send engineers to Intel’s 3nm/2nm fab, ensuring its viability. Intel’s facility could later be spun off into a joint venture, co-owned and operated by TSMC, the report adds.

While unconfirmed, ijiwei indicates U.S. officials have proposed Intel place its 3nm and 2nm chip fabs into a joint venture. TSMC would then provide engineers and expertise to ensure stable chip production in the U.S., as highlighted in the report.

Intel has yet to respond, while TSMC declined to comment, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Wild Speculation, But Reasonable

According to industry sources, this model appears highly feasible—Intel Manufacturing, with TSMC’s investment, benefits from technology transfer and management expertise, allowing it to ramp up quickly. Notably, the U.S. still retains semiconductor sovereignty if the deal proved true, the sources said.

With Intel gaining more ground, it would give Washington more leverage in negotiations with TSMC while Trump pledges to impose higher chip tariffs on Taiwan, the sources added.

Additionally, with Intel’s 18A process nearing mass production already, Team Blue’s Panther Lake is likely to be manufactured in-house in the second half of 2025 instead of relying on TSMC.

Citing Baird analyst Tristan Gerra, the ijiwei report sees the rumor as reasonable as well, as it would provide Intel with significant cash flow relief, allowing the company to focus on design and platform solutions. A successful foundry business could also attract key fabless companies for Intel, as they look for geographically reliable manufacturing alternatives, as noted in the report.

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(Photo credit: Intel)