Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) is in talks with Nvidia to produce graphics processors for AI accelerators with Blackwell architecture at its new plant in Arizona, Reuters writes, citing informed sources. According to sources, TSMC is already preparing to start producing Nvidia chips early next year.
Image source: NVIDIA
Currently, chips for Blackwell accelerators, introduced by Nvidia in March of this year, are produced at TSMC factories in Taiwan. The company plans to significantly increase their production, but the production capacity available in Taiwan is clearly not enough to satisfy the high demand fueled by the hype around AI technologies.
If an agreement is concluded with Nvidia, TSMC’s Arizona plant will have a new major client. According to Reuters sources, TSMC’s Arizona facility is currently producing chips for Apple and is preparing to produce GPUs for AMD accelerators.
However, the sources noted that although TSMC plans to carry out the front-end manufacturing process for Blackwell chips in Arizona, they will still need to be sent to Taiwan for packaging. The fact is that the TSMC plant in Arizona does not have the capacity to package chips using the advanced TSMC CoWoS technology used for Blackwell accelerators. One can only guess how much more expensive chips produced in Arizona will become due to transportation to Taiwan and back.