Tesla and SpaceX begin work in December on the world’s largest building, a massive 100 million square foot “Terafab” project worth $16.8 billion.

Tesla and SpaceX are working on what will be the world’s largest corporate building, called Terafab.

Spanning more than 100 million square feet in Texas, Terafab will be the result of a joint venture between Tesla, SpaceX and Intel.

The investment is monumental, and this is what the building will be used for.

Here’s what we can expect from Terafab Resort

The new Grimes County facility is expected to become the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility in the world, making it both a commercial and geostrategic move.

Apparently chips rule the world.

Indeed, almost all modern appliances – with the exception of a loaf of bread – run on chips.

The idea is to manufacture and test chips and, once fully operational, Terafab should be able to produce up to 100 or even 200 billion AI and memory chips per year.

Why Tesla and SpaceX desperately need it

The problem is that Tesla currently relies on outside suppliers like Samsung, Micron and TSMC, which creates financial and logistical bottlenecks.

“The combined demand for chips from SpaceX and Tesla is expected to exceed one terawatt of computing, which is significantly higher than current global supply,” a spokesperson said.

“While we deeply value our current chip suppliers and encourage them to increase production wherever possible, this looming gap between supply and demand is at the heart of the need for Terafab. »

As a reminder, the current record for usable interior space in a single building is the New Century Global Center in Chengdu, with an area of ​​18.9 million square feet.

Terafab, a 100 million square foot project, would dwarf that.

The first phase of Terafab is expected to cost $16.8 billion.

It is estimated that once completed, the project will create 3,000 jobs.

Some think Musk will eventually create a ‘mega-company’

Elon Musk runs several companies, but he also acts as a central driving force.

Over the past two or three years, Musk has integrated his companies into each other quite quickly and aggressively.

X, for example, is technically a social media platform, but it also has a built-in AI feature, Grok.

And since the primary way to access Grok is through X, the social media platform has effectively evolved into an AI distribution engine closely tied to xAI.

Then there’s Tesla – which Musk has repeatedly said isn’t just a car company – and SpaceX.

SpaceX and Tesla worked together on the Roadster, and it may not be a one-off.

Additionally, Tesla and SpaceX rely heavily on AI.

Some believe that sooner or later the natural next step will be to transform these companies into a giant AI, space and automobile company.

We’ll see, but we wouldn’t be surprised either way.

Terafab Timeline

January 2026: Elon Musk acknowledges the need for an in-house semiconductor manufacturing facility for the first time during an earnings conference call.

April 2026: Terafab is created as a joint venture between Tesla, SpaceX, xAI and Intel

May 2026: SpaceX files plans for large-scale manufacturing complex in Grimes County

August 2026: SpaceX and Tesla Officially Announce $16.8 Billion Phase 1 Plane for Grimes County Campus

End of 2026: Target date for first small batch runs of Tesla’s fifth-generation AI5 chips

2029: Ramp planned for mass commercial production