Elon Musk has announced the TerraFab project, a joint venture between Tesla, SpaceX and XAI, to build the “largest chip manufacturing facility ever built.” In his usual grandiose style, Musk claims that TerraFab is the next step toward harnessing the power of the Sun and creating a “galactic civilization.”
Musk, the CEO of all three companies, announced plans for TerraFab in a livestream on Xpress. As the name suggests, the ultimate goal of the project is to produce one terawatt of computing power every year so that it can match companies’ growing demand for chips. Musk explained during the livestream that he is grateful to existing supply chain partners like Samsung, TSMC and Micron, but that the chip makers’ current capacity only adds up to Tesla and SpaceX by two percent in terms of future computing power needs.
“Either we make TerraFab or we don’t have the chips,” Musk said during the event. “And we need chips so we’re going to build TerraFab.”
The TerraFab project, estimated to cost at least $20 billion, will begin with the Advanced Technology Fab in Austin, Texas, where Tesla is already headquartered. Musk said two types of chips will be produced at TerraFab: one for terrestrial purposes, such as to power full self-driving or Optimus robots, and a second more high-powered, durable chip that will be used in space. If you’re wondering what Musk has in store for space, the SpaceX CEO filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission earlier this year to create an “orbital data center” to launch one million satellites. As promising as this sounds, it’s worth noting that Musk has previously over-promised and not delivered on other projects like the Hyperloop, a $40,000 Cybertruck, and fully autonomous driving.
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