Intel, TSMC Recently Discussed Agreement to Form Chipmaking Joint Venture

Intel’s financial crisis may be over—with support from its biggest rival.

Executives from Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. recently discussed a preliminary agreement to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s chipmaking facilities, with TSMC taking a 20% stake in the new company, according to two people involved in some of the discussions.

Intel and other U.S. semiconductor companies will hold the majority of the shares in the proposed JV, which would include at least some of Intel’s existing chip foundries, said the two people. In exchange for the 20% stake, TSMC has discussed sharing some of its chipmaking methods with Intel and training Intel personnel to use them, instead of funding its stake with capital, one of the people said.

It isn’t clear how the rest of the new entity would be funded. The deliberations are ongoing and no final agreement has been reached, the two people said. There’s still resistance from some Intel executives concerned that the deal would cause widespread layoffs at the company while subsuming its own chipmaking technology, according to two Intel employees.