Wei was formally appointed TSMC's new chairman and became the company's first person to hold the dual role of chief executive in years.

He stuck with previous projections for 10 per cent growth in the global semiconductor industry this year, excluding the vast memory chip sector. But that was a scaled-back outlook from April when executives warned about weak smartphone and personal-computing markets.

Wei's ascension at TSMC is not just a changing of the guard, but a significant event in the midst of the global AI boom. TSMC, a company founded by Morris Chang, is well placed to exploit this boom – unless the Chinese invade with a few booms of their own.

TSMC remains the single most important chip maker to Apple, Nvidia, and SK Hynix, whose components are critical to training and hosting AI services.

Wei's latest appointment at TSMC is part of the company's strategic move to consolidate power under a single executive. This comes as TSMC embarks on its most significant expansion in its nearly four-decade history, with the construction of its Arizona plant, a project that is progressing well and represents the company's largest investment abroad.

However, Wei stressed that TSMC will always begin adopting the most advanced technology in Taiwan before considering employing it elsewhere. He also pledged to stick with TSMC's business model over the long run.

Executives said TSMC will not be initiating share buy-backs or a split any time soon, in response to a stockholder's query. The company needs cash to make investments to capitalise on the future growth of the industry, they said.