Elon Musk confirms discussions with TSMC about Terafab chipmaking collaboration

Elon Musk has hinted at potential discussions with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) regarding a collaboration that could see TSMC build and operate a specialized semiconductor production facility for Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI. The talks, confirmed by Musk in a recent X post, have not yet been elaborated upon. The structure of the collaboration, should it materialize, remains under discussion.

Options under consideration include TSMC owning and operating the facility while SpaceX and Terafab invest, or SpaceX potentially taking the majority ownership with TSMC providing operational expertise. The idea of TSMC establishing a fabrication complex in Texas is tied to the company's strategy to support Terafab. Intel is currently supplying its 1.4nm-class 14A process technology to Terafab, but if TSMC is involved, that could change as TSMC would bring its own node technology.

The potential partnership poses questions about Intel's role, as TSMC's involvement could impact Intel's 14A process technology.