Musk confirms Terafab talks with TSMC, pressuring Intel's 14A role in $119B chip project
量子位 · wechat · 2026-10-04
Elon Musk confirmed on October 3 that he is in discussions with TSMC about Terafab, the massive chipmaking venture for Tesla, SpaceX and xAI — with Intel previously the only named partner, set to supply its 14A (1.4nm-class) process.
Scale: The project's first phase is a $16.8B investment with potential long-term total of $119B, over 100M sq ft of planned space, targeting 1TW of annual AI compute — roughly 50x current global annual AI compute output.
Why TSMC: Musk said in April that TSMC "just can't make the staggeringly large number of chips needed." Now, as the project grows, he appears to be hedging: site prep has started in Grimes County, Texas, with major construction planned for December 2026 and phase one targeted for end of 2028. TSMC is separately evaluating a new Texas site.
Three possible cooperation models (media speculation): TSMC owning/operating the fab (JASM-style), SpaceX holding majority with TSMC as minority stakeholder running the fab, or pure technology/know-how licensing.
Intel's position: TSMC's entry could displace 14A with its own process, though a dual-track split is possible — Intel for front-end 14A, TSMC for operations, yield and packaging.
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