(Oct 11): Elon Musk said he thinks his companies would probably “figure out how to make chips better than anyone” given their expertise in creating customised equipment.
Musk told a gathering of customers and investors outside Tesla Inc’s giga factory in Austin, Texas, that while he currently has “no idea how to make microchips, we wil figure it out”. Appearing at the X Takeover event via livestream on Saturday, he noted that on tours of competitors’ facilities he hadn’t seen much customised equipment, which he said his companies had a lot of experience in making, enabling them to improve the manufacturing process.
“I think it is accurate to say it’s one of the hardest things to do in the world,” Musk said. “I don’t want to be complacent or entitled or anything, but, I think probably we’ll figure out how to make chips better than anyone. Honestly. I don’t know how long it’s going to take us to do that. It might take us quite a few years.”
Musk is preparing to build a Terrafab factory in Grimes, Texas, via a joint venture between his companies Tesla and SpaceX alongside Intel Corp, with an initial investment of more than US$15 billion (RM61.28 billion).
The project, which is expected to create 3,000 jobs, will receive a Texas Enterprise Fund grant of US$30 million. The 100-million-square-foot facility will be constructed in phases on a footprint of roughly 3,000 acres, but SpaceX has more than 13,000 acres currently under its control.
SpaceX, which went public in June, recently moved back above its US$135 initial public offering share price, making Musk the world’s first trillionaire. The company is nearing a deal with investment firm Grain Management LLC to acquire the spectrum needed to turn the company into a mobile carrier able to compete with T-Mobile US Inc, Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc.
Tesla reported better-than-expected sales for the third quarter, delivering 486,532 vehicles worldwide in the period, according to a statement on Friday. That compared with 463,761 expected on average among analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
The results are encouraging for Tesla following a period of declining auto sales and a lagging stock price. The company is planning to spend more than US$25 billion this year to build out its factory operations and stand up the robotaxi business, with US$30 billion of new loans and credit lines secured to support growth.
X Takeover also featured appearances from the musician Nicki Minaj and Musk’s mother, Maye.
Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee