TSMC\'s dominant share of the global pure-play foundry market is hardening a structure in which big tech customers have less leverage in price talks. Counterpoint Research put TSMC\'s second-quarter share at 73 percent, with Samsung Electronics\' foundry business at 7 percent. The market grew 29 percent year on year, and both TSMC and Samsung raised wafer prices. Analysts cited capacity constraints and supply-demand imbalances. Samsung is prioritising yield improvements and expanding capacity, including a planned 2027 start-up of its Taylor, Texas plant.

Anthropic is forming an in-house team to design chips for AI, TechCrunch reported on Aug. 5, citing a job posting seeking experienced chip design engineers for a “custom silicon team.” The company plans to co-design hardware and models so its technology runs faster and more efficiently. It currently secures AI computing hardware through contracts with AWS, Google, Nvidia and AMD.