Musk says Tesla’s mega AI chip fab project to launch in 7 days

Published March 14, 2026
Police officers direct traffic outside the Tesla showroom ahead of its opening in Mumbai, India on July 15, 2025. — Reuters
Police officers direct traffic outside the Tesla showroom ahead of its opening in Mumbai, India on July 15, 2025. — Reuters

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Saturday that the company’s Terafab project to make artificial intelligence (AI) chips will launch in seven days.

Musk had said last year that Tesla probably will have to build “a gigantic chip fab” to make AI chips.

Tesla is designing its fifth-generation AI chip to power its autonomous ambitions, and Musk at the company’s annual meeting last year laid out potential manufacturing plans.

Musk had said at the time that the EV maker could work with Intel and said, “You know, maybe we’ll, we’ll do something with Intel.”

“We haven’t signed any deal, but it’s probably worth having discussions with Intel,” he had said.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request seeking more details about the project.

Musk has teased the AI5 chip before and reiterated that Tesla was also partnering with Taiwan’s TSMC and South Korea’s Samsung.

The AI chips power Tesla’s autonomous driving systems, including the Full Self-Driving software.

“Even when we extrapolate the best-case scenario for chip production from our suppliers, it’s still not enough,” Musk said last year, at Tesla’s AGM.

“So I think we may have to do a Tesla terafab. It’s like giga but way bigger. I can’t see any other way to get to the volume of chips that we’re looking for. So I think we’re probably going to have to build a gigantic chip fab. It’s got to be done,” he said.

Opinion

Editorial

After the budget
Updated 26 Jun, 2026

After the budget

Though not a bad document per se, the budget for FY27 is a familiar one, and familiarity in our economic history is rarely cause for comfort.
Missing the mark
Updated 27 Jun, 2026

Missing the mark

Pakistan cannot rely on international partners to compensate for weak governance and inconsistent implementation at home.
Up in smoke
26 Jun, 2026

Up in smoke

PAKISTAN is watching an epidemic unfold as the menace of narcotic abuse hits every fourth household in Karachi ...
Reflection time
Updated 25 Jun, 2026

Reflection time

Israel is the biggest source of instability in the Middle East, and it is high time the US ended its blind support to Tel Aviv, if it genuinely wants peace in the region.
Raised temperatures
25 Jun, 2026

Raised temperatures

THE fraught situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir requires immense patience and cool heads. Temperatures are raised on...
Debatable remedy
25 Jun, 2026

Debatable remedy

THE Pakistan Psychiatric Society’s challenge to the Federal Shariat Court’s ruling on attempted suicide deserves...