Tesla’s “Gigantic Chip Fab” Plan Teases 100k→1M Wafers/Month As Intel “Discussions” Surface

GigaNectar Team

Close-up view of semiconductor wafers representing global chip manufacturing and AI production trends

Gigantic chip fab remarks, supplier context, and wafer math

Elon Musk said at Tesla’s shareholder meeting that a “gigantic” semiconductor fabrication plant may be required for AI and robotics workloads. Current production partners named were TSMC and Samsung, and Intel was mentioned as a consideration. Capacity figures cited were 100,000 wafer starts/month initially with a path to 1,000,000. Statements were made at the meeting and have been reported with context by Reuters and Axios. A reference for foundry capacity is provided by TSMC’s 2024 capacity page. Internal reading remains available at Intel Panther Lake lineup and cloud/services update.

100k WSPM
Proposed initial Tesla capacity
1,000k WSPM
Proposed scaled Tesla capacity
~1.42M WSPM
TSMC 2024 reference
“AI5”
Latest Tesla chip (outsourced build)

Wafer Starts Calculator with supplier context

WSPMAI & Robotics
100k1M
Intel mentioned; no formal agreement announced.
100,000 WSPM
Share of TSMC’s ~1.42M WSPM reference
~7.0% of reference capacity

Key statements and milestones

Shareholders meeting — remarks
“One of the things I’m trying to figure out is — how do we make enough chips?” Partners named were TSMC and Samsung, with Intel mentioned as a possibility. “I think we’re probably going to have to build a gigantic chip fab.” Reuters, Axios.
Capacity numbers
Potential fab capacity discussed at 100,000 WSPM initially, scaling to 1,000,000 WSPM. TSMC reported about 17 million 12-inch-equivalent wafers annually in 2024 (~1.42M WSPM). TSMC capacity.
Chip design
Tesla has designed custom chips for autonomous driving for several years. Production of the latest-generation “AI5” chip is outsourced and was described as cheaper and power‑efficient for Tesla’s AI software. Axios.
Vehicles & robotics
Cybercab (driverless, no pedals/steering wheel) production was stated for April in meeting remarks; Optimus robot goals were also stated. Related post: X post.

Summary of coverage

The section included meeting statements about a potential “gigantic” fab, supplier mentions, and capacity numbers. Sources linked were provided from Reuters, Axios, and TSMC. Internal links were added for related topics on GigaNectar.

This interactive presented meeting remarks and reference figures with links for context.

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