Intel signs off on Elon Musk’s Terafab chips project

Intel will join SpaceX and Tesla in trying to build a new US semiconductor factory in Texas, although the size of its contribution is unclear.

“Our ability to design, manufacture, and deploy high-performance chips will help accelerate Terafab’s goal of generating 1 TW/year of compute power to support future advances in AI and robotics,” Intel. he said in a company post on X. Intel did not share details.

Elon Musk he announced in March a joint venture between the two leading technology companies to develop AI compute chips, satellites, and SpaceX’s mooted space data center and support the potential of Tesla’s autonomous vehicles and robots.

However, fabricating a chip is one of the most complex and expensive business processes out there, taking years and more than $20 billion to build a large clean room for thousands of high-precision machines to process silicon. It was not clear that SpaceX and Tesla, two companies that have no experience in this field, would cooperate to do the job well.

Now we have a better idea: Intel will do it. The company has been on the hunt for major anchor clients to support its startup business, and now has two. However, if investors think that Terafab will be a green alternative to SpaceX and Tesla’s unique engineering approach, that will not happen.

Once the leading silicon manufacturer in the US, Intel saw rivals Nvidia and AMD take the lead in high-end processor production and adopt a “no-frills” business model where chipmakers outsource production of their semiconductors. Intel stock rose more than 3% on the news today. It was trading at $52.28, about 2.9% above its opening bell price, at 2 pm ET.

Intel declined to comment on the deal, while SpaceX did not respond to TechCrunch’s inquiry.