Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. isn’t engaged in discussions to form a venture or share its technology with any company, its top executive said, dismissing persistent speculation that the Taiwanese company is negotiating a tie-up of some sort with ailing chipmaker Intel Corp.

Shares of Intel slid 1.8% after the news.

Chief Executive Officer C. C. Wei, responding to questions about a possible Intel collaboration, said TSMC remained focused on its own business. He didn’t directly address a report by the Information in April that the two had struck an initial agreement to set up a joint venture to operate Intel’s chip plants.

“TSMC is not engaged in any discussion with other companies regarding any joint venture, technology licensing or technology transfer and sharing,” Wei told analysts on a conference call.

Bloomberg News reported in February that TSMC had discussed a tie-up at the request of the Trump administration. That scenario was meant to help Intel out as it cuts thousands of jobs and curbs expansion plans.

It’s unclear though whether such talks gained traction, particularly after a $100 billion additional investment that Wei unveiled in March with US President Donald Trump. That month, Lip-Bu Tan assumed the role of Intel CEO.

On Thursday, TSMC kept its growth outlook for 2025 on expectations of AI revenue doubling, suggesting the world’s biggest chipmaker is confident it can ride out a US-China trade war. And it stuck with a capital spending projection of $38 billion to $42 billion for 2025.