Elon Musk claims that his ambitious Terafab chip manufacturing plant project is "progressing rapidly" and will be ready to produce its first chip by May or June 2027, with a large-scale launch planned for the third quarter of 2028. UNN reports this, citing Gizmodo.
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As the publication notes, these are "fairly unusual timelines, but they fit Musk’s penchant for strange plans and inflated promises regarding delivery-date forecasts." Musk announced the project for a giant chip manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas, in March, claiming that it would produce chips for both terrestrial and space use. But chip manufacturing plants are known to be complex and expensive to build, especially in the United States rather than in places such as Taiwan, where there is already relevant expertise. Bringing a plant into operation alone can often take several years. But Musk is promising a tighter timeline for his plant.
We will begin commissioning the equipment in the first half of next year, and hopefully, if everything goes well, we will produce our first test chip, just to see whether we can produce any chip at all, around May or June. But actual production will begin at the end of 2028, which is lightning-fast by chip-factory standards
The project is a joint venture between two of Musk’s companies, SpaceX and Tesla, which are also actively discussing a merger, the billionaire said during the first company’s earnings call. It turns out that the companies have not yet decided how to divide the costs of Terafab.
Musk said that a merger between Tesla and SpaceX was under consideration21.10.26, 10:56
"We need to figure out the relative allocation between SpaceX and Tesla in terms of who pays for what at Terafab, but it will not be less than tens of billions in capital equipment by the beginning of 2028, and then it will probably be more than $100 billion in the long term," Musk said during Tesla’s earnings call.
Musk said that Terafab, once operational, would become an "incredibly important asset, if not a necessary asset" for scaling up Optimus, the company’s humanoid robots, which are significantly behind Musk’s stated timelines. Early production has finally begun "on a high-volume line" in Fremont, California, Musk said during the call, but Tesla will still need "probably at least a year, perhaps a little more" to reach its previously stated goal of producing around 20,000 robots per week.
The electromechanical design, particularly of the robots’ hands, is a huge challenge, but Musk claimed that he expects it to be resolved by the end of 2027. That is when customers can expect Tesla to begin delivering Optimus. The first customers will be industrial companies whose work requires "dangerous, repetitive tasks, things that people really don’t want to do... such as working around the clock," Musk said.
During the call, Tesla executives also shared timelines for the release of other products. The company’s two-seat robotic taxis, Cybercabs, will be available for customers to purchase by the end of this year, Tesla Vice President of Automotive Engineering Lars Moravy said, although Musk noted that the "vast majority" of Cybercabs would be owned by Tesla and offered as "transportation as a service." Cybercabs are currently available only in Austin, Texas, but Tesla executives said they plan to introduce the service in more cities by the end of 2026, starting with a launch in Dallas in November.
"I think Tesla will ultimately perform the majority of passenger miles on Earth in any country where it is allowed to operate freely, and you can come back and look at this forecast," Musk told analysts.