Abstract:
According to DigiTimes, citing supply chain sources,
Musk is re-evaluating the advancement plan of the Terafab chip factory and may renegotiate negotiations with TSMC.
Different from the previous consideration of leasing part of the factory area to TSMC, the latest discussion may give TSMC greater rights to participate in the project. Who will build and operate the wafer plant will become the focus of negotiations.
报道称，双方可能讨论工厂运营控制权、共同投资及相关技术合作。受AI芯片需求增长影响，先进封装产能持续紧张，封装技术也被纳入潜在合作范围。台积电可能在晶圆厂建设和运营中承担主要职责，但项目股权结构、投资比例及具体分工仍未确定。
The two parties have previously been in contact around Terafab. Musk confirmed in early October that he was discussing cooperation with TSMC, but later made it clear that Tesla and SpaceX would build and operate Terafab themselves, and TSMC could only rent some facilities at most. TSMC Chairman and CEO Wei Zhejia stated in the earnings call on October 15 that the company has sent a team to Texas for assessment and is discussing production capacity cooperation with Terafab, but he also emphasized that if TSMC participates in the relevant wafer factory, the factory must be operated by TSMC. The differences between the two parties in operational dominance thus emerged.
Terafab is jointly promoted by SpaceX and Tesla and is located in Grimes County, Texas, USA. According to plans previously announced by SpaceX, the project will concentrate the manufacturing, packaging and testing of advanced logic chips and memory chips in the same park, with a planned manufacturing space of more than 100 million square feet. The first phase is expected to be invested by SpaceX and Tesla at approximately US$16.8 billion.
SpaceX stated that Tesla and SpaceX’s future chip demand is expected to exceed 1 terawatt of computing power. The chips produced by Terafab will be used for Tesla Optimus robots, Cybercab and SpaceX’s planned space data center and other businesses. The core goal of the project is to reduce the dependence of Musk's companies on external chip production capacity and expand the supply of computing power for AI and robotics businesses.
In terms of construction progress, Tesla has launched the construction of a research wafer fab in the northern campus of the Texas Gigafactory in April this year. This facility is regarded as a preliminary project of Terafab. Musk previously said that the team plans to complete the first test chip in May or June 2027 and strive to achieve large-scale production in the third or fourth quarter of 2028. However, he also admitted that this timetable is "very aggressive" and that the project also faces procurement challenges of advanced lithography equipment and other semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
Intel has also previously announced its participation in the Terafab project, but the two parties have not disclosed specific cooperation methods. If TSMC wins the right to dominate the construction and operation of the fab in the new round of negotiations, Terafab's cooperation structure and the division of labor among the participants may be adjusted accordingly.
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