AIBRIEF
Two ownership paths remain open: TSMC own and operate, or a SpaceX majority stake. No site, no chipmaking process, no capital expenditure figure, and no signed agreement have been disclosed.
TSMC and Elon Musk's team are in early-stage talks over a Texas chip plant Musk has called the "Terafab." Times of Oman, republishing Taiwan Plus, reports two ownership options are under consideration. Under the first, TSMC would own and operate the Texas plant while SpaceX invests in the project and buys the chips it produces. Under the second, SpaceX would hold a majority stake. Musk confirmed the talks on X, also describing them as early stage.
The build clock is the constraint on every option. TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said a new fab takes two to three years to build and another one to two years to scale into volume production, a window he called a "fundamental" of the foundry industry. There is no announced Texas site, no process node, no capex figure, and no signed agreement.
The near-term US advanced-fab capacity is in Arizona, not Texas. TSMC separately plans $165 billion there, expanding from three advanced fabs to six, plus two advanced packaging facilities and a research center, on a shorter clock than any new Texas project could run on.