Elon Musk has shut down speculation regarding the ownership of his upcoming semiconductor venture, insisting that his companies will directly build and operate the planned “Terafab” AI chip facility in Texas. Pushing back against industry reports suggesting that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) would likely take the operational reins, Tesla and SpaceX CEO clarified that the Taiwanese chip giant would play at most a tenant-style role.Replying to a post which claimed that “the likeliest deal has TSMC owning and running the fab, with SpaceX investing or committing to buy chips”, Musk wrote: “No, we will build and run the fab. Let there be ZERO doubt about that. Maybe TSMC subleases part of the Terafab if they want, but nothing more than that.”
Clarifying the scope of TSMC talks
The clarification follows days of speculation after reports emerged that Musk was in active discussions with TSMC to establish a dedicated fabrication plant to supply his business empire, including Tesla, SpaceX and artificial intelligence (AI) startup xAI. While Musk previously confirmed early-stage discussions, noting at the time that they were “just discussions, but something may come of it”, his latest remarks draw a hard line around who retains ultimate control of the physical site.Musk also agreed with an analysis on X describing TSMC’s potential participation as purely supplemental. Responding with a simple “True,” Musk endorsed a post stating that Terafab is being designed on a large scale, including aiming for 1 terawatt (TW) of compute production capacity every single year.
Intel affirms its ongoing role
The dialogue with TSMC had raised questions about Intel’s position in the Texas venture, as any technical collaboration with TSMC could theoretically overlap with existing arrangements. However, speaking to Bloomberg News, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan affirmed that the US chipmaker is already a partner in the Terafab initiative and will remain actively involved.