Elon Musk has unveiled Terafab, a hyper-scale chip factory that aims to unleash massive AI computers and eventually support space-based infrastructure and human expansion beyond Earth.
Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, now part of Musk’s aerospace company, are developing the project together. Their goal is to produce one terawatt of computers every year, about 50 times the world’s production of AI chips.
“The way to advance development is to develop energy in space … because we take the energy of the sun on Earth,” Mr. Musk. he said in a recent SpaceX launch.
“We want to be a civilization that spans the galaxy with spaceships that anyone can go anywhere they want at any time,” he added. “To do this, we need to use solar energy. Terafab, although it is huge, a terawatt of computation per year is the biggest of our civilization, it is still only one step to Kardashev.”
Production work
Terafab would consolidate the entire development cycle into one place, according to Musk. The system would include capabilities for mask lithography, chip fabrication, testing, and refurbishing, enabling rapid response to re-engineering chip designs.
Musk also said that this method could significantly speed up product development compared to the distributed parts of today’s chips.
The project is expected to begin with a high-tech manufacturing facility in Texas, supported by the state.
Two types of chip
The target focuses on two groups of chips. The first could be planned for an edge-to-edge display, the kind of robotic system essential to Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots and its autonomous vehicles, including the upcoming Cybercab.
Musk’s humanoid robot projects could reach one billion to ten billion dollars a year, less than the roughly 100 million cars produced worldwide each year.
A second type of chip would be designed for space, designed to withstand high-energy particle blasts, and designed to travel at high altitudes to reduce the amount of heating radiators on orbiting platforms.
Why space, not Earth
Musk said that the world’s energy problems make it impossible to send terawatts of computing to Earth, while the entire US electricity system runs at around 0.5 terawatts. Instead, a large number of computing devices can orbit the earth with solar-powered AI satellites.
The “mini-satellite” specifications require 100 kilowatts of output, with future additions in the megawatt range. Achieving the total terawatt goal would require putting about ten million tons of material into circulation every year at a power of 100 kilowatts per ton.
The current version of Starship V3 can bring about 100 tons to launch at each launch, a figure that the upcoming V4 version can double to 200 tons. SpaceX has completed more than 500 successful launches and run costs ranging from $65,000 per kilogram during the Space Shuttle era to $1,000 to $2,000 per kilogram today.
The company’s goal is to push between $100 and $200 per kilogram with the optimization of Starship, which Musk believes will make the deployment of AI cheaper than other methods in the first two to three years.
To help with this change, Musk has hinted at the launch of a flexible launch vehicle such as the Starship, which he said will be crucial for carrying the large payloads needed.
“Stars are a very important part of the simulation, because in order to increase the computing power and increase the power, you need to go to space, which means you need a lot of money in space. And Starship will make it possible,” said Musk.
He also outlined long-term proposals, including the use of lunar probes and multiple drivers to further reduce the cost of sending infrastructure into orbit.
Level of difference
Global AI computing power is about 20 gigawatts per year. Every semiconductor plant in the world plus about 2% of what Terafab would need to meet its annual terawatt goal.
Musk confirmed that existing suppliers, including the world’s largest startups, remain difficult, but he also said that their better numbers may not match their demands.
“We build Terafab or we don’t have chips,” he said. “And we need chips, so we build Terafab.”
