Intel shares recovered modestly in premarket trading Wednesday, rising 0.3% after dropping 2% on Monday and 3% on Friday, after Elon Musk moved to end speculation that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. would take a major operational role in the Terafab semiconductor project.
Musk, who recently regained trillionaire status, wrote on X that Tesla and SpaceX will build and run the Texas-based fab. “No, we will build and run the fab. Let there be ZERO doubt about that. Maybe TSMC subleases part of the Terafab if they want, but nothing more than that,” he said. The statement clarified that discussions with TSMC were limited to the possibility of leasing floor space at the site.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan told Bloomberg that Intel would continue working with Musk on the project. Intel joined as a partner in April 2026 and is helping develop technology that will go inside Terafab. The facility is expected to supply advanced chips for Tesla vehicles, robotics operations, and SpaceXAI, the merged entity combining Musk’s space business and xAI, which develops Grok.
Terafab is expected to be split into two factories: one focused on chips for Tesla vehicles and humanoid robots, and the other supplying hardware for AI data centers in space. The project is targeting an annual computing capacity of about 1 terawatt. Reuters previously reported that SpaceX and Tesla committed $16.8 billion in initial spending on the project.
The uncertainty around TSMC’s potential involvement had become a key issue for Intel investors. D.A. Davidson managing director Gil Luria said enthusiasm around Terafab has been a major catalyst behind the “dramatic ascent” of Intel’s stock, which has surged about 200% this year. “If it turns out Intel does not participate, or is only one fab technology provider, investors may reconsider the credit they gave Intel,” Luria said. Oppenheimer analyst Rick Schafer had floated the possibility of TSMC owning and running a fab serving only Tesla, SpaceX and xAI.
Separately, TSMC is still reportedly considering a new chipmaking campus in Texas as it expands across the US, while Samsung Electronics already has a plant under development in the state.
