Elon Says One Terafab Building Will Out-Produce Most Countries as Korean Suppliers Sign On

Image: SpaceX

Elon Musk says a single Terafab building will produce enough to rank among the world’s 20 largest economies, and a new report out of Korea shows Tesla and SpaceX are already lining up suppliers for it.

Musk made the claim on X at 10:02 AM PT on Tuesday, writing that “the value of Terafab’s output will place it in the top 20 of country GDP in a single building.” He was quoting a recap of a TheElec report on the chip project’s Korean supply chain, and he didn’t share any figures behind the comparison.

The value of Terafab’s output will place it in the top 20 of country GDP in a single building

Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2026

That report, published by the Korean trade outlet TheElec, says Terafab is in talks with about 10 Korean chip suppliers, and more than half of them have signed nondisclosure agreements. Representatives from both Tesla and SpaceX visited the booths of about 10 Korean companies on October 13, the opening day of the SEMICON West trade show in San Francisco. Until now, HPSP and Hanmi Semiconductor were the only Korean equipment suppliers publicly linked to the project, but TheElec says discussions now cover nearly every category Korean firms can supply, from basic piping parts and process materials to chip testing components.

The talks are at very different stages, according to TheElec. HPSP has agreed to supply one high-pressure hydrogen annealing system for Terafab’s research and development line, which is the only firm equipment commitment in the report. Hanmi Semiconductor is discussing thermocompression bonders, and one of its sales executives visited in person at SpaceX’s request. KoMiCo, the cleaning subsidiary of MiCo, signed a three-party NDA with Tesla and SpaceX about a month ago covering cleaning services for an R&D pilot line in Texas, while ISC has moved on to exchanging test socket samples and design information. Others, including Unisem for scrubbers and BMT for valves and fluid-handling parts, are also under NDA, and a few companies made first contact at the show.

TheElec also reports that Tesla and SpaceX don’t do business with Chinese suppliers. “Excluding China, there aren’t many suppliers, and Japanese companies are expensive,” an official at a Korean equipment maker told the outlet. “Korea is a good option.” Another supplier said the speed has stood out, noting that inquiries sent in the early morning hours in the US get answers “within 30 minutes to an hour.”

Musk has used the GDP comparison before. On October 11, he urged engineers to “join the Terafab project,” saying “the value of the output of this massive structure will rank in the top 20 of country GDPs,” as we noted in our update on Musk saying Tesla will build and run Terafab itself. That same week he made clear that Tesla and SpaceX, not TSMC, will run the plant, with TSMC at most subleasing part of it.

TSMC sees things differently. CEO C.C. Wei confirmed on the company’s October 15 earnings call that TSMC is talking with a customer building Terafab, but said the fab would have to be run by TSMC, as we covered in our story on TSMC confirming Terafab talks. Neither side has said how that gap will close.

The scale of the project helps explain the GDP talk. Tesla and SpaceX broke ground on Terafab in Grimes County, Texas in August with a $16.8 billion first phase, a site of more than 100 million square feet and at least 3,000 jobs planned. TheElec says the long-term goal is processing 1 million wafers a month within 10 years, and that industry observers expect an initial facility handling 100,000 wafers a month to be finished before 2030. The chips are meant for Optimus, the Cybercab and SpaceX’s planned space-based data centers.

Do you think one Terafab building can really out-produce the economies of most countries, or is Musk’s GDP math too optimistic?