Overview
Tesla's research and pilot fab for the Terafab AI-chip megaproject announced by Elon Musk on 21 March 2026, built at the existing Gigafactory Texas site in Austin ahead of the full-scale Grimes County production fab. The roughly $3 billion facility is sized for a few thousand wafer starts per month to prove out production processes; Musk has said the Terafab project plans to use Intel's 14A process technology. Key facility details include: The facility is situated at Tesla Rd, Austin, TX 78725, USA. It focuses on Assembly & Packaging, Processors. This site represents an estimated investment of $3B and a production capacity of Target: a few thousand wafer starts/month (R&D pilot line) wafers per month.
Technology
About Terafab
Terafab is a vertically integrated semiconductor megaproject announced by Elon Musk in March 2026, jointly developed by Tesla, SpaceX, and Intel (using Intel's 14A process) to produce AI compute chips for Tesla vehicles/Optimus, SpaceX orbital data centers, and xAI. Tesla operates a smaller 'Advanced Technology Fabrication' R&D pilot line at the existing Gigafactory Texas site in Austin, while SpaceX operates the planned high-volume production fab at Grimes County, TX (Gibbons Creek Reservoir), targeting up to 1 million wafer starts/month at full scale. Initial investment estimated at $55B, with total project scope up to $119B. SpaceX's own SEC IPO prospectus (filed June 2026) describes only 'a general framework for the future development of Terafab' agreed with Tesla so far -- specific projects, timelines, and capital expenditures are still subject to separate, not-yet-finalized negotiations, meaning the exact corporate/ownership structure tying SpaceX, Tesla, and Intel together remains officially undetermined as of this writing.