TSMC Chairman Liu Deyin has responded to Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger’s recent comments on the “instability” surrounding Taiwan. Gelsinger stated that the US government should focus on local chipmakers rather than offering subsidies to Asian foundries such as TSMC and Samsung. Both TSMC and Samsung have started building cutting-edge foundries on US-soil (Arizona) to mass-produce their 5nm-class chips by 2023-24.
Deyin had a simple reply to Gelsginer’s comments. He stated that they aren’t responding, going on to say that he doesn’t slander his peers. All major chipmakers with foundries in the US are lobbying to get a share of the $52 billion CHIPS Act meant to reduce the country’s dependence on Asian countries for its supply of semiconductors. Pat’s reasoning behind the request is rather simple. The presence of the PLA-led Chinese Government has long been eyeing Taiwan.
Repeatedly calling the island nation a part of mainland China, the PLA has been making bold moves as of late, including flying higher jets in Taiwanese airspace. It’s unclear whether this will escalate to anything serious, but the Intel CEO’s comments are likely more personal. TSMC has been leading the foundry market over the last 5 years, serving Intel’s rivals, most notably AMD with cutting-edge chips.
Ironically, Intel is a major client of TSMC. The company’s upcoming Arc “Alchemist” graphics cards will be fabbed on the Taiwanese foundry’s N6 node. In addition to this, some of the chiplets powering the Ponte Vecchio mega-chip will also be fabbed on TSMC’s N5 process node. The subsequent generations of the ARC graphics cards will also be fabbed on TSMC’s N5, N4, and N3 nodes.
