SpaceX, the space company led by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, will build an extra-large semiconductor plant in Texas to produce chips for artificial intelligence (AI) and space data centers.
AFP reported on the 6th (local time) that SpaceX plans to build a semiconductor manufacturing facility, "Terafab," in Grimes County, northwest of Houston, Texas. At least $55 billion (about 80 trillion won) is expected to be invested to build the plant, but if additional expansions are included, the total investment is estimated to reach $119 billion (about 173 trillion won).
Musk said Tesla and SpaceX will jointly operate the facility. Terafab is a project to produce semiconductors needed for AI, robotics, and space data centers. Musk has argued for in-house production, saying Tesla's and SpaceX's computing demand will outstrip the production capacity of global chip suppliers.
Musk's goal is to produce chips on Earth that support 100–200 gigawatts (GW) of computing power and semiconductors in space that support 1 terawatt (TW) of computing capacity. The Grimes County commissioners court, where the plant will be located, plans to discuss approval of tax abatements for the Terafab project on the 3rd of next month. Grimes County called the Terafab project "an investment that will dramatically expand U.S. semiconductor manufacturing capacity."