Elon Musk is recruiting for Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) and Tesla Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Terafab project, saying the planned Texas semiconductor complex could eventually produce output on the scale of one of the world’s largest countries.
Musk Touts Terafab’s Massive Economic Scale
"Join the Terafab project. The value of the output of this massive structure will rank in the top 20 of country GDPs!" Musk wrote on X, amplifying a hiring post for the project on Sunday.
SpaceX and Tesla announced Terafab earlier this year to combine logic, memory and advanced packaging under one roof. SpaceX says their combined chip demand exceeds 1 terawatt of compute annually. Its prospectus says Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) joined in April to contribute design, fabrication and packaging expertise.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office says the first phase represents more than $16.8 billion of investment and 3,000 jobs. The state also awarded SpaceX a $30 million Texas Enterprise Fund grant. Musk previously said Terafab could become Grimes County’s largest revenue source.
Chips Will Power Robots and Spacecraft
The plant is designed to supply chips for Tesla’s Optimus robots and self-driving Cybercabs, plus processors for SpaceX’s planned orbital data centers. SpaceX says the facility will eventually span more than 100 million square feet. Musk has estimated roughly 75% of eventual Terafab AI compute could go to SpaceX spacecraft and 25% to Optimus. He has previously outlined that split between SpaceX and Tesla.
Musk Bets On Better Chip Manufacturing
Musk is also betting his companies can master semiconductor manufacturing despite his lack of fab-building experience. Speaking by livestream Saturday at the X Takeover event outside Tesla’s Austin gigafactory, he said he currently has "no idea how to make microchips, we’ll figure it out."
Musk said visits to competitors’ facilities showed relatively little customized equipment, an area where his companies have deep experience. "I think it is accurate to say it’s one of the hardest things to do in the world," he said. "I think probably we’ll figure out how to make chips better than anyone." He added that it "might take us quite a few years."
SpaceX says Terafab will vertically integrate manufacturing, packaging and testing to shorten iteration cycles. Reuters reported last week that Musk said Tesla and SpaceX would build and operate the complex, while Intel would keep working with the project and TSMC could potentially lease part of the site.
Terafab would give Musk’s companies more direct control over chip supply for robots, robotaxis and space computing. Tesla is already pushing AI5 and AI6 chips toward higher-volume production, making manufacturing capacity increasingly central to Musk’s AI plans.
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