Nvidia and TSMC Partnership Origins Revealed
The 30-year manufacturing alliance began with a letter from Jensen Huang to TSMC founder Morris Chang in the late 1990s.
Updated on Oct. 22, 2026 in Semiconductors
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In the late 1990s, Nvidia founder Jensen Huang established the company's long-term partnership with TSMC by sending a letter to founder Morris Chang. This retrospective account highlights the origins of a relationship that has endured for 30 years.
Why it matters
The partnership between Nvidia and TSMC has become a foundational pillar of modern semiconductor manufacturing. This historical collaboration helped define the current trajectory of chip production for high-performance computing.
TSMC reported a record net profit of NT$763.06 billion for the third quarter of 2026, marking a 68.7% increase year-over-year. This performance follows a 30-year partnership duration between the two firms.
The players
Jensen Huang
Founder and leader of Nvidia, a company that designs graphics processing units and systems for AI computing.
Morris Chang
Founder of TSMC, the world's largest contract semiconductor manufacturer specializing in advanced process nodes.
TSMC
A global semiconductor foundry that fabricates chips for major technology companies and reported a NT$763.06 billion profit in Q3 2026.
United Microelectronics Corporation
A Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry that Huang visited alongside TSMC during the selection process.
The details
Jensen Huang secured the pivotal relationship by using a telephone directory to locate TSMC contact information. After initial attempts to reach the U.S. office failed, Huang wrote directly to Morris Chang to explain his business needs for graphics chip production. Following the letter, Chang initiated a call that led to Huang visiting manufacturing facilities in Taiwan, ultimately selecting TSMC as the primary partner.
Timeline
Late 1990s: Jensen Huang contacted Morris Chang to initiate a manufacturing partnership.
July to September 2026: TSMC completed its third-quarter fiscal period.
October 2026: Jensen Huang discussed the historical partnership details on a podcast.
The Tech Race
This historical account marks the origin point of a 30-year strategic alliance that currently anchors Nvidia's dominant position in the AI hardware market. It illustrates the critical nature of early-stage foundry selection in defining a company's ability to scale production.
The success of this decades-old partnership currently dictates the availability of hardware components for major consumer and enterprise AI sectors. Users continue to rely on the manufacturing capacity established through the collaboration discussed by Huang.
The takeaway
The Nvidia-TSMC story serves as a case study in the power of strategic foundry relationships in the volatile semiconductor industry. Watch future quarterly earnings reports to see if TSMC maintains its current 68.7% year-over-year profit growth as demand for advanced manufacturing persists.
Further reading
Explore more analysis regarding global chip supply chains in Semiconductors.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Hindustan Times.
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