Musk says SpaceX and Tesla to build advanced chip factories in Austin

March 23 (Reuters) - SpaceX and Tesla (TSLA.O), will ‌build two advanced chip factories at a sprawling facility in Austin, Texas, one to power cars and humanoid robots, and another designed for artificial intelligence data centers in space, CEO ​Elon Musk said on Sunday.

The comments followed Musk’s announcement a day earlier ​of plans to build “Terafab,” an advanced AI chip complex in Austin.

“Terafab ⁠will technically be two fabs, each making only one chip design,” Musk wrote ​in a post on X.

Musk has previously said Tesla would need to build its ​own AI chip plant, but the involvement of SpaceX had not been disclosed. SpaceX, which is preparing for a public listing that could value the company at around $1.75 trillion, recently merged with Musk’s ​social media and artificial intelligence firm xAI.

“We either build the Terafab or we ​don’t have the chips,” Musk said during a presentation in an Austin facility on Saturday, adding ‌current ⁠global chip production would meet only a small fraction of his companies’ future needs.

Musk did not give a timeline for the new project. Musk has a track record of announcing highly ambitious projects, though several have faced delays or fallen ​away.

Musk said he was ​grateful to existing ⁠chip suppliers, naming Samsung (005930.KS),  TSMC (2330.TW), and Micron (MU.O), but said demand from his companies would eventually exceed total global chip output.

Terafab ​will eventually produce one terawatt of computing capacity a year, ​compared with ⁠about half a terawatt currently generated across the United States, Musk said.

He said one chip would be used in Tesla vehicles and Optimus humanoid robots, while the second ⁠would ​be designed for AI satellites in space.

“We need ​a high‑powered chip designed for space that takes into account the harsher environment,” Musk said, adding it ​would need to operate at higher temperatures.