The contract chipmaker rejected a Wall Street Journal report that claimed Intel had approached Taiwan Semiconductor seeking either an investment in its manufacturing operations or a broader partnership.

The Taiwanese chipmaker stressed that it has never engaged in talks with any company to form a joint venture, license technology, or transfer know-how, the Taipei Times reported on Monday.

Also Read: Taiwan Semiconductor Unveils Ultra-Advanced Chip Tech

Intel stock has gained over 77% year-to-date, securing a 10% stake investment from the U.S. government, $2 billion from SoftBank Group (OTC: SFTBY), and a $5 billion pledge from Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) earlier this month.

Taiwan Semiconductor Chair C.C. Wei has repeatedly dismissed speculation about a tie-up with Intel. Rumors of Taiwan Semiconductor buying into Intel coincided with its struggle to close the gap in semiconductor manufacturing technology.

Taiwan Semiconductor stock has gained over 38% year-to-date as a key Nvidia supplier.

Bank of America Securities analyst Vivek Arya said the move strengthens Nvidia’s role as OpenAI’s preferred compute and networking partner.

He estimated the initiative could generate $300 billion to $500 billion in revenue, three to five times the investment, and potentially make OpenAI account for 15% to 25% of Nvidia’s sales.

Price Action: TSM stock was trading higher by 0.49% to $274.69 premarket at last check Monday.

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