Elon Musk unveiled plans in March for a giant semiconductor plant project called TerraFab, and in October said the factory would begin mass production in the second half of 2028.

According to reports, the project has now entered a substantive phase of implementation.

Musk plans to rely on Tesla and SpaceX to build this wafer fab in Texas, USA, achieving self-sufficient chip supply.

Under the plan, the factory will produce computing chips annually, capable of supporting artificial intelligence and robotics businesses with a combined computing power scale of 1 terawatt.

However, the semiconductor industry has remained skeptical.

Conventionally, building a wafer fab generally takes about three years, and many industry views question whether a company without semiconductor manufacturing experience can achieve mass production within three years.

But media reported on the 9th that TerraFab has recently placed huge orders with Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturers.

On one hand, the industry is welcoming this new major customer; on the other hand, the requirements proposed by TerraFab break through conventional industry standards, leaving many manufacturers puzzled.

A senior executive at a Japanese semiconductor equipment company told media: "Right now, the hottest topic in the semiconductor industry is not Kioxia, nor Rapidus, but Elon Musk."

This also shows that TerraFab is no longer viewed merely as a "concept," but as a special industrial project.

Sources say TerraFab informally proposed a target: to achieve monthly production of 1 million silicon wafers by 2032 and beyond.

This capacity is 40 times that of Rapidus's Chitose plant in Hokkaido, which produces 25,000 wafers per month.

Of the 1 million wafers per month, about 700,000 will be used for memory chips responsible for data storage, while more than 300,000 will be logic chips handling computing operations.

Intel is also participating in the TerraFab project and is expected to contribute manufacturing process technology during the mass production phase.

Several TerraFab procurement heads traveled to Japan in early November to hold talks with local suppliers and finalize mass production-related details.

Some equipment manufacturers received TerraFab orders requiring delivery within a few months.

A representative of one such company admitted to media: "The requirements of this order are unreasonable, but we must cooperate as much as possible."

This unprecedented delivery pace has shocked the entire industry.

Douglas Lefever, CEO of major Japanese semiconductor equipment maker Advantest, struck an optimistic note at a recent earnings briefing: "TerraFab is moving from concept to implementation, and will grow into a business of pivotal importance in the future."

TSMC President C.C. Wei also mentioned last month that the two sides are in talks on how to utilize TerraFab's capacity.

Some reports say TSMC is considering leasing part of the TerraFab site to build its own wafer fab, but Musk disagrees, stating: "Factory operations will be handled by us ourselves."

Whether the mass production plan can be implemented on schedule remains highly uncertain.

It is still unknown whether suppliers can meet Musk's demands.

In addition, after the U.S. midterm elections, the change in Texas's governor may raise market concerns that approvals for related AI investment projects could be delayed.

If this plan for AI high-performance chips is successfully implemented, TerraFab will become a new rival to South Korean semiconductor giants such as Samsung and SK Hynix.