TSMC approved about $29.443 billion in capital spending at an Aug. 11 board meeting, lifting its cumulative board-approved capital budget for the year to $60.726 billion, or about NT$1.96 trillion. The money will be used to expand advanced process and advanced packaging capacity as strong demand from AI and high-performance computing continues to drive semiconductor investment. In May, the board had already approved $31.283 billion. Chairman C.C. Wei had said at a July earnings conference that TSMC plans to keep building 13 advanced wafer fabs and advanced packaging plants in Taiwan over the next several years, covering Kaohsiung, Hsinchu Baoshan and Tainan. He also said the total scale of investment in Arizona in the United States had increased to $265 billion. The board separately approved the creation of a joint venture with Sony Semiconductor Solutions, with TSMC's subscription capped at 282 billion yen. The venture will be located in Koshi City, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, and aims to begin mass production of next-generation image sensors for smartphones in 2029. TSMC also approved a second-quarter cash dividend of NT$7 per share, with the ex-dividend trading date set for Dec. 10. Eligible foreign shareholders will be given the option to receive the cash dividend in U.S. dollars.