SpaceX and Tesla are launching a massive joint venture in Grimes County, Texas. This facility, known as TeraFab, represents an initial investment of 16.8 billion dollars. The scope of this project is significant, with plans to span over 100 million square feet of manufacturing space at full build-out.
Elon Musk describes this plant as the most valuable building on Earth. He claims that once completed, the footprint of TeraFab will be 50 times the size of the Pentagon. The facility intends to produce chips for advanced vehicles, humanoid robots, and orbital data centers to meet the growing demand for compute power that Musk estimates will exceed 1 terawatt.
The project has already received local support. County commissioners approved a 100 percent property tax abatement for the site in June 2026. The plant will create at least 3,000 jobs for residents of Grimes and Brazos counties. Intel has joined the project as a partner, with production expected to use their 14A manufacturing process.
Environmental impact remains a core focus of the development plan. The site will use water from the local Gibbons Creek Reservoir rather than groundwater supplies. Developers also confirmed that they will include on-site wastewater treatment and strict hazardous material management protocols to ensure compliance with all environmental regulations.
Initial phases of construction carry a cost estimate of 55 billion dollars. Future expansion stages could bring the total investment for the finished site as high as 119 billion dollars. This project serves as a direct response to the supply gap between existing semiconductor manufacturing capacity and the needs of modern high-performance computing.