AI 2026: TSMC Risks Being a Bottleneck on AI Progress
The world's most valuable chipmaker is a repository of unique industrial expertise. Its businesslike conservatism about AI however risks the company's position being disrupted by competitors.
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With a market capitalization of over $2 trillion (TSM), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the most valuable semiconductor manufacturing company in the world as of May 2026.1 The company is considered a chip “foundry” that does not design any computer chips but only manufactures them on contract for other companies, including “fabless” semiconductor companies like Nvidia and AMD. TSMC singlehandedly dominates global production of the world’s most advanced and computationally powerful computer chips and its dominance has not just held but grown in recent years: its share of global foundry revenue has grown from 59% in 2020 to 72% as of late 2025—with second-ranked Samsung dwarfed in comparison with a market share of just 7%—and its market share reaching even higher with greater chip sophistication.2 At present, the entire leading edge of artificial intelligence technology is dependent on TSMC’s manufacturing capabilities as well as its ability to scale up production quickly, and by extension so are the fortunes of many of the world’s most valuable companies including Nvidia and Apple.