The world's largest contract chip maker approved plans to invest up to $1 billion in Anthropic and OpenAI, giving markets a shot of confidence as the artificial-intelligence trade shows signs of strain.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Tuesday said its board approved investments of up to $500 million each in Anthropic's common shares at the IPO price and OpenAI's preferred stock.

Anthropic said Tuesday that it will sell shares at $70 to $78 apiece in its initial public offering, aiming to raise more than $61 billion at the midpoint of the range. The Claude maker also plans to raise $26 billion from big investors including Alphabet's Google, Advanced Micro Devices and TSMC, its filing showed.

"The anchor book matters more than the headline size, because it puts the companies that sell Anthropic its chips, host its models, and distribute its products on the register as shareholders before the first public trade," Yorkville Ives analysts said in a note.

TSMC's move to buy stakes in the industry's most influential model developers shows its desire to broaden its AI exposure beyond manufacturing advanced chips to power AI computing infrastructure.

Analysts also cautioned that the distinction between investors, suppliers and customers is becoming more ambiguous in the AI sector, making it harder to assess true demand.

"Anthropic's investors and strategic partners include companies that also provide cloud or infrastructure services to the company, which creates critical interdependencies," Pictet Wealth Management said in a report.

In another positive sign for AI bulls, however, the Taiwanese chip maker on Tuesday posted a 60% rise in revenue for October from a year earlier, indicating that demand remains alive and well.

Its board also approved $40.93 billion in capital expenditure covering advanced semiconductor manufacturing, advanced packaging, plant construction and 2027 research and development investments.

TSMC's shares were last 4.2% higher on Wednesday.