Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) shares fell 4.1% to about $114.43 in Monday pre-market trading after Elon Musk confirmed that Terafab is discussing a possible role for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in the Texas chip project.
The talks raise the possibility of another advanced-chip manufacturer participating in an initiative that already includes Intel.
Culpium founder Tim Culpan first disclosed the TSMC discussions on Oct. 2. Among the structures he described was one in which Terafab would become a major customer of a new Texas fab owned and run by TSMC, while other arrangements were also under consideration.
Musk responded on X the next day, “Just discussions, but something may come of it.” As of press time, TSMC and Terafab have not announced an agreement.
Separately, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter, that TSMC was evaluating a manufacturing investment in Texas in addition to its Arizona expansion. The plans were not finalized, and TSMC declined to comment.
Intel’s Terafab Position Was Not a Fully Locked-In Contract
Intel joined the Terafab initiative in April, and Musk later said the project planned to use Intel’s next-generation 14A manufacturing process. Reuters described the development at the time as Intel landing its first major customer for 14A, giving the company a prominent external validation for the advanced process technology at the center of its foundry strategy.
SpaceX’s subsequent SEC disclosures, however, showed that Intel’s position remained less fixed than a conventional long-term foundry award.
SpaceX said Intel was expected to contribute chip design, fabrication and packaging expertise to Terafab, but specific projects under the initiative remained subject to separate negotiations and agreements. In correspondence with the SEC, SpaceX further clarified that neither Tesla nor Intel was obligated to remain part of the project and that definitive agreements might not ultimately be reached.
That contractual flexibility makes the TSMC discussions directly relevant to how Terafab could ultimately allocate manufacturing work. At the same time, the talks do not establish that TSMC would replace Intel. Musk has also indicated that TSMC’s involvement could supplement Intel as Terafab pursues manufacturing capacity on an unusually large scale.
Terafab’s scale helps explain why the project could involve more than one chip manufacturer. The first phase carries an investment of more than $16.8 billion, according to the Texas governor’s office, while project filings have outlined a four-phase buildout that could reach roughly $119 billion. The facility is intended to help meet more than 1 terawatt of future computing demand from Musk’s companies.
Intel Shares Remain Far Above Their 52-Week Low
Monday’s premarket decline came after a large 2026 advance. Intel closed Friday at $119.33, with shares up about 223% for the year through that session. At $114.43 in premarket trading, the stock was about 19.6% below its 52-week high of $142.35 but still roughly 248% above its $32.89 low.
Meanwhile, Intel Tokenized bStocks (INTCB) was trading at $114.46, down 3.67% over the previous 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. The tokenized instrument trades around the clock, meaning its 24-hour percentage move cannot be directly compared to Intel’s Nasdaq premarket change.
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