Tesla reportedly taps Intel 14A

Tesla plans to use Intel’s 14A chipmaking process for its Terafab project in Austin, according to Elon Musk’s comments reported on April 22. (reuters.com) Reuters reported Musk said Tesla would use Intel’s next-generation 14A process to make chips at Terafab, which he has described as an advanced artificial-intelligence chip complex in Austin, Texas. Intel declined to comment on Musk’s remarks, Reuters said. (reuters.com) Chip “process” is the manufacturing recipe used to build transistors, the tiny switches inside processors, and smaller generations generally aim to improve speed and power efficiency. Intel says 14A is a preview node that combines its second-generation RibbonFET transistor design with a second-generation backside power system called PowerDirect. (intel.com) Intel’s foundry website says customers can begin 14A design engagement now, but the company still labels the technology as “Now Previewing” rather than in volume production. Musk said on the call that 14A was “not yet totally complete,” according to DatacenterDynamics’ report on the earnings webcast. (intel.com, datacenterdynamics.com) If Tesla follows through, Reuters said it would be Intel’s first major outside customer for 14A. That would give Intel Foundry a marquee name as the company tries to build a contract-manufacturing business to compete with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC. (reuters.com) Reuters also reported Intel shares rose 3.6% in extended trading after Musk’s comments. The same report said Intel Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan has said the company would leave chip manufacturing if it could not secure an external customer. (reuters.com) Terafab itself is still lightly defined in public. Reuters said Musk has described it as a sprawling facility that would eventually produce one terawatt of computing capacity a year, and many details — including who pays for equipment, who operates the factory, and when it opens — remain unknown. (reuters.com) Tesla’s first-quarter 2026 shareholder update says the company is ramping additional artificial-intelligence compute and starting a heavier investment cycle, while the earnings-call transcript says management is planning more than $25 billion in 2026 capital expenditures. That spending frame helps explain why Tesla is tying chip supply more closely to its own manufacturing plans. (tesla.com, finance.yahoo.com) DatacenterDynamics and Tom’s Hardware reported Musk also said SpaceX would be responsible for high-volume manufacturing, a setup those reports interpreted as closer to technology licensing than a standard foundry order. Neither Tesla nor Intel had publicly laid out that structure in the materials reviewed here. (datacenterdynamics.com, tomshardware.com) For now, the reporting points to a deal that is more important for what it signals than for any chips shipping today: Tesla is lining up future artificial-intelligence hardware around Intel’s next node, and Intel may finally have a flagship 14A customer to prove its roadmap can attract big names. (reuters.com, intel.com)