Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chipmaker, approved an additional $29.4425 billion in capital spending for advanced processes, packaging upgrades and semiconductor plant construction as the artificial intelligence boom increases demand for leading-edge chips. Taiwan media reported on Aug. 12 that the board cleared the plan at an Aug. 11 meeting, and Taiwan's Central News Agency said 70% to 80% of the budget would go to advanced processes, 10% to specialty-process expansion and the remaining 10% to 20% to other areas including packaging. The move is TSMC's third capital spending decision this year, following approvals of $44.962 billion in February and $31.2843 billion in May, bringing the combined total to nearly $105.6888 billion. Chairman C.C. Wei said on the company's second-quarter earnings conference call last month that AI demand remained very strong and required more capacity. He added that TSMC would invest another $100 billion in Arizona and build at least four more semiconductor fabs beyond its existing plan, after the company said it had secured orders from major customers and cloud service providers through 2029 and 2030. The board also approved a joint venture with Sony to produce next-generation image sensors for smartphones, with Sony leading product planning and design and TSMC handling manufacturing and mass production. TSMC said its investment in the venture would not exceed 282 billion yen.