Terafab Is Now Aiming For A Memory Production Capacity Of Around 700,000 Wafers Per Month, Which Is Roughly Equal To Samsung’s Entire DRAM Capacity

Elon Musk's chip venture, known as Terafab, has a projected total cost of $1 trillion, a figure stated by Ron Baron at the Baron Investment Conference on November 6, 2026. According to transcripts of the livestream, Musk replied that it probably will cost that much over time, though the money will be spent in phases. Yahoo Finance reported that only a sliver of the bill has an official price tag, and it remains unclear whose shareholders will cover the rest since Tesla and SpaceX special committees discussing a combination have not agreed on terms. Musk stated that Terafab aims to produce a terawatt of AI chips a year, calling that goal terrifyingly large. He estimated global AI chip output at around 20 to 25 gigawatts for 2026 and roughly 35 to 45 gigawatts for 2027.

Regarding the timeline, Musk targeted a first SRAM test chip around May or June 2027 during SpaceX's October 20 earnings call, and set volume production for the third quarter of 2028 while calling those dates very aggressive. On August 6, 2026, Texas Governor Greg Abbott's office estimated the first phase of the project at Gibbons Creek in Grimes County at more than $16.8 billion on a 100-million-square-foot site. An earlier published estimate put Terafab's total cost at more than $100 billion. The plan utilizes a research fab at Gigafactory Texas in Austin to test chip processes before moving successful processes to Grimes County, which Musk said could cut a process cycle from about a year to about a month. Meanwhile, Wccftech reported that Terafab is now aiming for a memory production capacity of around 700,000 wafers per month, which is roughly equal to Samsung's entire DRAM capacity. Seeking Alpha reported that Terafab targets one million wafers per month by 2032. Additionally, according to 파이낸셜뉴스 and 조선일보, Musk's procurement team made a secret trip to Japan and placed unprecedented rush orders with Japanese suppliers, telling them to deliver within a few months.