NVIDIA’s CEO, Jensen Huang, has weighed in on Elon Musk’s ambitious plans to develop a state-of-the-art chip fabrication facility. Musk recently announced his intention to create a massive chip plant to support Tesla’s custom chip needs, aiming to produce up to one million chips per month. This bold move came after Musk received approval for a $1 trillion pay package, fueling his vision for Tesla’s future in the chip industry.
Challenges in Chip Manufacturing
Jensen Huang highlighted the complexities involved in advanced chip manufacturing during a discussion in Taiwan. He emphasized that building such a facility is not only about constructing the plant but also mastering the engineering, science, and artistry that companies like TSMC excel at.
Building advanced chip manufacturing is extremely hard. It’s not just build the plant, but the engineering, the science and the artistry of doing what TSMC does for a living is extremely hard.
Huang stressed that chip fabrication expertise is not something that can be developed overnight, even for a visionary like Musk. Tesla’s plan, dubbed “TeraFab,” aims to address the potential shortfall from existing suppliers like TSMC, Samsung, and Intel, but could require an investment of hundreds of billions of dollars.
NVIDIA and TSMC’s Strategic Partnership
In Taiwan, Huang is set to meet with TSMC executives to evaluate the current supply chain landscape. TSMC plays a critical role in NVIDIA’s AI initiatives and is a major semiconductor supplier. The firm’s collaboration with leading technology firms underscores the difficulty new entrants might face in replicating TSMC’s success. Meanwhile, Tesla’s growing demand for chips to power vehicles and robots presents opportunities for other chipmakers like Samsung and Intel, despite the daunting challenges of Musk’s TeraFab project.
Tesla’s ambition to develop its chip capacity is driven by the need to support its advanced technologies. Musk’s ability to achieve the seemingly impossible is well recognized, yet this endeavor will require immense resources and expertise.