Intel and ??? ?? ????TSMC have reached a preliminary agreement to establish a joint venture, under which the two companies will jointly operate Intel’s chip fabrication plants in the US, sources told American tech news outlet The Information last Friday. Officials from the White House and the US Department of Commerce have been urging TSMC and Intel to reach a deal in order to tackle Intel’s long-standing challenges, the report claimed, with the company having missed out on the AI semiconductor boom and struggled to compete with rivals in the field of chip-making. In the joint venture, TSMC would hold a 20% stake, with the remaining shares going to Intel and other US investors. At time of writing, neither TSMC nor Intel has commented on the matter. [The Information]