SpaceX's Terafab chip complex could reach $119B across four phases, records show
What's the deal? Public records reveal that SpaceX's planned TerafabDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → semiconductor complex in Grimes County, Texas, could grow into a $119-billion megaproject built across four phases through 2036. Texas announced the project August 6 as a more than $16.8-billion first-phase investment, with 3,000 jobs and a planned 100-million-sq-ft facility.
Why now? The details surfaced as SpaceX fights to keep them private. In a September 8 lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Grimes County, the company is seeking to block disclosure of project information, including costs, land-acquisition records, structural-design details, and tax-incentive negotiations.
The policy angle: A state ruling had ordered the release of most requested materials, prompting the suit. Eight applications under Texas' Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation (JETI) program split the buildout into four phases; because the site crosses two school districts, each phase requires separate applications.
What's the endgame? Elon Musk has called Terafab "the most epic chip-building effort—combining logic, memory and advanced packaging all under one roof," intended to produce AI chips "for use on Earth and in space." A county notice estimated $55 billion for initial phases and as much as $119 billion if later phases proceed near Gibbons Creek Reservoir.
What's inside? Plans include cleanrooms, gas turbines, battery storage, substations, water treatment and recycling, and industrial wastewater facilities. County agreements anticipate onsite power generation and use of Gibbons Creek Reservoir water. State filings schedule the first phase for 2026-28, with expansion phases in 2029-31, 2032-34, and 2035-36.
What could go wrong? The later phases are far from certain. Each phase would be "independently capable of manufacturing semiconductors," the applications state, with the company deciding whether to proceed after completing each one. Tesla is recruiting construction managers and superintendents to oversee bidding and field execution, though major outside construction firms remain unidentified.
The signal: Terafab marks an attempt by Musk's companies to bring chip production in-house at vast scale, controlling both manufacturing and construction. The records fight underscores how much of the plan — and its true cost — the company would prefer to keep out of public view.
Read more: enr.com
