TSMC’s newly elected board of directors elevated Dr. C. C. Wei, the chipmaker’s current CEO, to Chairman. This happened today in Taiwan during the company’s 2024 Annual Shareholders' Meeting, and Wei came out of the gates swinging.
On the day Wei became chairman ofthe world’s largest semiconductor firm, Taiwan’sBusiness Todayreminded us that, back in February, Wei insisted that Samsung and Intel “have no way to compete with TSMC.” Moreover, when Bloomberg columnist Tim Culpan asked Wei aboutSam Altman’s plans to build AI fabsafter he visited a TSMC facility, Wei replied, “Sam Altman, he’s too aggressive, too aggressive for me to believe.” (via X)
Wei replaces Mark Liu, who wasreportedly forced to retire from TSMCin December last year, after the company’sArizona fab faced delaysandlabor disputes. TSMC’s first US facility even had anaccident last month that killed a truck driver.
Aside from keeping TSMC’s US ambitions on track, C. C. Wei also must deal with the brewing tensions along the Taiwan Strait. The U.S. is gravely concerned about China’s ambitions in Taiwan, with the U.S. Commerce Secretary proclaiming that aChinese seizure of TSMC would devastate the American economy. This has progressed to the point that TSMC’s Taiwan fabs areequipped with remote self-destruct functionsin case of any hostile invasion.
According toReuters, the threat of war across the Taiwan Straits is a consideration but largely moot. Wei explains that moving the company’s fabs away from the island, with about 80-90% of its production capacity, is impossible.
However, he is not alone in saying that the island is crucial for making chips — AI or otherwise. AMD’s Lisa Su said, “We do a lot of our manufacturing here with key suppliers like TSMC… And then we also have a number of partners that help us build out the ecosystem here in Taiwan.” (via Reuters) Nvidia’s Jensen Huang was also quoted saying that Taiwan is one of the most important countries in the world during hisnight market dinner with the heads of TSMC, MediaTek, and Quanta.
Nevertheless, TSMC’s decision to keep leading-edge production on the island might be more politically motivated, especially as some would consider that keeping the world technologically dependent on Taiwan might be the only thingkeeping the U.S. on its toes and China at bay.
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Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
