Intel confirms continued role in Musk’s Texas Terafab despite rumors of TSMC involvement

Intel’s chief executive Lip-Bu Tan announced that the company will maintain its involvement in the Terafab venture, a partnership of SpaceX and Tesla to construct a semiconductor fab in Grimes County, Texas. This reassurance arrived after Elon Musk revealed he was in early-stage talks with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. about a potential role, which had unsettled investors and pressured Intel’s share price. Tan, speaking before a ceremony marking Intel’s 50-year presence in Japan, said Intel’s expertise in chip design, manufacturing and advanced packaging will still support the project’s goal of delivering a terawatt of AI-focused computing capacity.

Musk later posted that TSMC might only sublease part of the facility, if at all. Following the clarification, Intel’s stock gained about 2 % in pre-market trading. The venture, backed by roughly $16.8 billion and planning a workforce of at least 3,000, intends to supply chips for Tesla’s Optimus robots, Cybercabs and SpaceX’s space-based data centers, with total spending potentially reaching $119 billion.