Musk to Build Semiconductor Plant in Texas Through Tesla–SpaceX Joint Project

[The Financial News] Elon Musk is moving into direct semiconductor production to support his sweeping ambitions in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and the creation of space colonies.
On the 22nd (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Musk unveiled plans to build a large semiconductor manufacturing facility called "TeraFab" in Austin, Texas, through a collaboration between Tesla and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).
At an event in Austin, Texas, Musk declared, "We have no choice. Either we build TeraFab, or we give up on the chips we need," adding, "We desperately need these chips, so we decided to build them ourselves."
The chips produced at this facility are expected to be used in Tesla’s electric vehicles and in Optimus, its humanoid robot seen as a key driver of future growth. The plant will also manufacture AI computing chips for the many satellites that SpaceX plans to deploy in space.
It was already known that Tesla had been working on in-house chip design. However, this is the first time a concrete plan has been revealed for SpaceX to take part directly in building a semiconductor fabrication facility.
That said, the detailed ownership structure and division of responsibilities between SpaceX, which recently merged with Musk’s AI startup xAI, and Tesla have not yet been clearly disclosed.
Companies like Tesla typically design their own chips but outsource manufacturing to specialized foundries. In fact, last July Tesla signed a contract worth about $17 billion (around 22 trillion won) with Samsung Electronics to produce chips for autonomous driving and AI data centers.
Musk remarked, "We are deeply grateful for what Samsung and TSMC have achieved, and we hope they can ramp up production as quickly as possible." At the same time, he made it clear that the pace at which chipmakers are expanding capacity is not keeping up with the speed of his business expansion.
Industry experts are responding to the plan with a mix of concern and anticipation.
In a recent report, Morgan Stanley analysts wrote that, even considering Musk’s track record of tackling difficult challenges, building an in-house fab would be "a Herculean task." They projected that constructing the facility alone could take several years and require more than $20 billion (about 30 trillion won) in investment.
According to Musk, TeraFab is expected to be an integrated complex that houses everything from advanced lithography equipment for cutting-edge semiconductor processes to design, testing, and full-scale production lines.

jjyoon@fnnews.com Yoon Jae-joon Reporter