He doesn't know how to make a core but wants to surpass TSM.US (TSM.US): Musk is throwing $15 billion

According to Woofun AI, Elon Musk publicly acknowledged “I don't know how to make chips” during the live broadcast of the X platform event in Austin, but asserted that his company will produce chips in a way that surpasses any competitor. This statement sets the tone of its narrative of challenging the semiconductor industry's high threshold.

Elon Musk criticized traditional fabs such as TSM.US (TSM.US), Intel (INTC.US), and Samsung for relying on standardized supplier equipment and investing tens of billions of dollars a year without customized designs. In contrast, Tesla (TSLA.US) has accumulated unique advantages by designing its own production equipment through Tesla's German automation department.

According to Woofun AI, Elon Musk believes that this experience can improve the level of chip manufacturing, but he admits that he “doesn't want to be complacent or arrogant,” and it is expected that it may take 'several years'. Traditional chip design takes two years from conception to mass production, but Elon Musk wants engineers to complete about 10 design tasks every year to accelerate technological breakthroughs through rapid iteration.

Elon Musk then posted a job ad inviting world-class chip design or production engineers to join SpaceX (SPCX.US) or Tesla, emphasizing the appeal of rapidly optimizing designs and customizing equipment. The program has been funded, and Tesla and SpaceX are building a Terafab chip factory in Grimes County, Texas through a joint venture with Intel, with an initial investment of up to $15 billion. The project is expected to create approximately 3,000 jobs and receive $30 million in funding from the Texas Enterprise Fund. On the X platform, Elon Musk clearly denied the possibility that TSMC would own and operate the plant, and insisted that his team control the operation rights.

The Terafab project aims to verify that automotive and rocket manufacturing experience can be applied to semiconductor production. Currently, advanced chip production is mainly dominated by a few foundries such as TSMC, and Elon Musk estimates that this testing may continue for several years. This is a key step in Tesla's expansion upstream of the core hardware supply chain following the electric vehicle and aerospace fields. Its success or failure will directly affect the autonomous and controllable capabilities of future smart hardware.