Intel said Tuesday that it will play an unspecified role in Elon Musk’s “Terafab” project, an effort to build more semiconductor plants and develop new computing power for the billionaire’s companies.
Intel announced the partnership on X.com, Musk’s social media platform, but did not say how Intel figures into his plans. It posted a picture of Musk with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan at Intel’s headquarters.
“Our ability to design, fabricate, and package ultra-high-performance chips at scale will help accelerate Terafab’s aim to produce 1 TW/year of compute to power future advances in AI and robotics,” the company said. It said the project would benefit from Intel’s experience in designing, manufacturing and packaging semiconductors.
Intel shares rose about 2% on the news, to $51.84. The company said it will work with SpaceX, Tesla and xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence business.
Intel didn’t issue a press release about its partnership with Musk and it didn’t submit a filing regarding the arrangement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as publicly traded companies must do when they have significant financial news.
That could suggest that Intel and Musk don’t have a firm agreement yet on how much work Intel will do for the Terafab.
At Tesla’s annual meeting last month, Musk suggested he might work with Intel on a semiconductor plant dedicated to his own companies’ needs. At the time, Musk said they hadn’t signed any deal.
For several years, Intel has been seeking external customers who would use the company’s factories to make their own chips. Intel hasn’t announced any such deals yet but the company has indicated it expects potential clients will begin making decisions late this year or early next year.
