Tesla and SpaceX confirmed on Thursday that their jointly developed advanced chip factory, named "Terafab," will be constructed in Grimes County, Texas, just north of Houston. The companies plan an initial investment of $16.8 billion into the project.
Elon Musk, CEO of both companies, stated that the factory is planned to be "the largest and most valuable building on Earth by far." SpaceX indicates that the facility will encompass more than 100 million square feet of manufacturing space.
The companies anticipate that the facility will create at least 3,000 jobs for residents of Grimes and nearby Brazos County. Intel has also stated it will contribute to the Terafab project, though specific details of its involvement remain undisclosed.
SpaceX's website describes Terafab as an advanced semiconductor fab designed to address future computing demand. It will produce chips optimised for edge computing and inference, intended for use in hardware such as Tesla's Optimus robots and self-driving Cybercabs, as well as high-power chips for SpaceX's space-based data centres.
Concerns regarding tax breaks and transparency were raised by residents at a county meeting on Wednesday. SpaceX has committed to using water from the local Gibbons Creek Reservoir instead of local groundwater.