Musk is urging chip suppliers to operate at 'light speed' for his Terafab AI.
As reported by Bloomberg, teams from SpaceX and Tesla have contacted Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, Lam Research, and Samsung to obtain price estimates and delivery timelines for chipmaking machinery.
Elon Musk's teams have reached out to key suppliers in the chip industry, including Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, Lam Research, and their chip manufacturing partner, Samsung Electronics, as part of Musk's Terafab initiative, which aims to create an AI chip fabrication facility connected to SpaceX and Tesla.
A Bloomberg report, citing sources familiar with the situation, indicates that the team has requested pricing and delivery information for various chipmaking tools, such as photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning equipment, testers, and additional instruments.
Bloomberg notes that the effort is fueled by Musk's ambition to advance at "light speed," as staff strive for swift price quotes while providing limited details about the products they intend to produce.
Terafab is characterized as an ambitious endeavor to establish a US-based, fully integrated AI chip manufacturing complex capable of large-scale silicon production, positioning Musk's companies in direct competition with the existing fabrication ecosystem dominated by TSMC, Samsung, and Intel.
This initiative is part of a broader trend involving Musk's companies, like Tesla and SpaceX, aiming to control essential components of the AI supply chain, reducing reliance on outside suppliers.
Tesla has already developed its own Dojo supercomputer training chips. If verified, the outreach to suppliers would imply that Terafab has progressed from conceptual discussions to active procurement planning, although the limited information shared with suppliers complicates the assessment of the project's maturity.
Published April 16, 2026 - 8:06 am UTC
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