Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX Teams Fast-Track Supplier Push for Terafab Chip Manufacturing

Elon Musk's teams have launched an aggressive recruitment push to secure suppliers for Terafab, an ambitious semiconductor manufacturing complex that would establish a major U.S.-based chip fabrication facility. According to Bloomberg, staff from Tesla and SpaceX have approached major chipmaking equipment suppliers including Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, and Lam Research, as well as chip manufacturing partner Samsung Electronics, requesting expedited price quotes and delivery timelines. The speed of these outreach efforts reflects Musk's desire to move the project forward at what insiders describe as "light speed," with teams reportedly requesting quotations even during holiday periods and asking for delivery timeframes measured in days.

The scope of Terafab's equipment needs reveals the scale of the undertaking. Teams have sought information on an extensive array of chipmaking tools, including photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers, and other specialized manufacturing equipment. According to Bloomberg reporting, the teams have provided minimal information about the intended products while pressing suppliers for rapid responses, making it difficult for the industry to fully assess how advanced the project has become. The initiative appears to have moved beyond conceptual planning into active procurement scoping, suggesting a genuine commitment to materializing the project.

Terafab represents part of Musk's broader strategy to vertically integrate critical components of the artificial intelligence supply chain across his companies. The joint venture, involving Tesla, SpaceX's acquired company xAI, and recently Intel, aims to establish a fully integrated semiconductor foundry capable of manufacturing silicon at scale. This would position Musk's enterprises in direct competition with the established chip manufacturing ecosystem dominated by TSMC, Samsung, and Intel. Tesla already designs its own Dojo supercomputer training chips, and Terafab would extend this self-sufficiency into actual chip production.

The project carries an estimated cost of approximately $25 billion and aims to begin silicon manufacturing by 2029, with subsequent scaling expected thereafter. Samsung has reportedly proposed allocating additional capacity at its future Texas facility to support Tesla's manufacturing ambitions. The aggressive timeline and procurement approach underscore the competitive pressures driving Musk's effort to reduce dependence on existing foundry partners and establish independent chip production capabilities for his technology ventures.