Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC sees nearly 40% jump in its net profit thanks to the AI boom

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HONG KONG (AP) — Taiwan’s leading computer chip maker, TSMC, said Thursday that its net profit surged nearly 40% in the last quarter, boosted by the surge in use of artificial intelligence.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. is the world’s biggest semiconductor manufacturer. It reported a net profit of a record 452.3 billion new Taiwan dollars ($15 billion) in the July-September quarter, higher than analysts’ forecasts.

The company earlier said its revenue jumped 30% year-on-year in the last quarter.

TSMC has been building chip fabrication plants in the United States and Japan to help hedge against risks from China-U.S. trade tensions. The chipmaker is a major supplier to companies such as Apple and Nvidia.

“Demand for TSMC’s products is unyielding,” Morningstar analysts wrote in a note this month. “Given TSMC’s dominance, we doubt the company would be hindered if it faced tariffs on shipments to U.S. customers. We expect AI demand to stay resilient.”

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick proposed last month that computer chip production be divided 50-50 between Taiwan and the U.S. Taiwan -- where the majority of global chip manufacturing is currently based -- rejected that idea.

The company has committed $100 billion in U.S. investments, including building new factories in Arizona, on top of $65 billion that it pledged earlier.