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Musk Floats Intel Talks as Tesla Weighs 'TeraFab' to Meet AI Chip Demand

Musk says existing suppliers cannot meet Tesla’s projected AI chip needs.

Overview

  • Elon Musk told shareholders Tesla may discuss manufacturing with Intel, stressing no agreement has been signed as Intel shares rose about 4% in after-hours trading and the company declined comment.
  • Musk said Tesla likely needs a “gigantic” in-house fab, describing a potential “TeraFab” with at least 100,000 wafer starts per month to close a long-term capacity gap.
  • Tesla currently relies on TSMC and Samsung for production but, even in best-case scenarios, Musk says their output would fall short of Tesla’s requirements.
  • The roadmap calls for limited AI5 chip production in 2026 and high-volume output in 2027, with an AI6 targeted for mid-2028, and Musk claimed substantial power and cost advantages versus Nvidia’s Blackwell.
  • Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang cautioned that building advanced semiconductor fabs is extremely hard, emphasizing the engineering complexity beyond constructing facilities.