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Musk Asks Suppliers to Move at ‘Light Speed’ on Terafab Plan
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April 16, 2026
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5:51Now PlayingElon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers including Applied Materials Inc., Tokyo Electron Ltd. and Lam Research Corp. for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips.
Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc. and SpaceX have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to be named disclosing private discussions. Bloomberg's Ed Ludlow joins to discuss. Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers including Applied Materials Inc., Tokyo Electron Ltd. and Lam Research Corp. for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips.
Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc. and SpaceX have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to be named disclosing private discussions.
The Terafab team also asked chip manufacturing partner Samsung Electronics Co. for support. The South Korean company instead proposed allocating more capacity for Tesla at its planned factory in Taylor, Texas, according to the people.
The outreach suggests Musk is pressing ahead with Terafab in the face of skepticism from the semiconductor industry. The project, as envisioned, aims to reshape the chipmaking landscape and propel the world’s richest person into an arena dominated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Intel Corp. said it will join the Terafab initiative, with its Chief Executive Officer Lip Bu Tan posting a photo of Musk on a recent visit to the chipmaker’s Santa Clara office. Musk’s representatives have asked for speedy price estimates while providing minimal information about the products to be made. In one case, they asked a supplier on a holiday Friday for an estimate to be delivered the following Monday, one of the people said. Musk wants to move at “light speed,” the person was told.
Shares of Tokyo Electron closed up 5.3% in Tokyo on Thursday, while news of the talks also lifted the stock prices of chip gear makers such as Advantest Corp., Screen Holdings Co. and Disco Corp. Shares of Applied Materials and Lam Research rose more than 2% during pre-market trading.
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