Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s dominant chipmaker, is accelerating plans to move advanced production overseas, a move that would reduce the world’s exposure to a potential Chinese invasion of the island.
TSMC’s first foreign manufacturing plant, in the US state of Arizona, is already producing chips, and the company is planning to open another there sooner than expected. The firm will also use a new Japanese plant to make more advanced chips than previously anticipated.
TSMC produces over 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, and the AI boom is driving demand ever higher. Beijing views Taiwan as part of China, and should it invade, global industries from carmaking to defense would largely grind to a halt.
