Samsung is to make chips for Tesla at its Taylor, Texas fab.

“Samsung’s giant new Texas fab will be dedicated to making Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chip. The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate,” said Elon Musk (pictured)  in a post on X earlier today. “”Samsung agreed to allow Tesla to assist in maximising manufacturing efficiency. This is a critical point, as I will walk the line personally to accelerate the pace of progress. And the fab is conveniently located not far from my house.”

The deal is said to be worth $16.5bn

Earlier this month Samsung said it was delaying construction at Taylor because it did not have a customer for the fab’s output

 

Samsung’s struggles with 2nm yield and TSMC’s success at 2nm meant that the big customers signed up with TSMC – Apple, Broadcom, Mediatek, AMD and Qualcomm.

Samsung was to have spent $37bn building fabs in Texas with the Chips Act contributing $4.7bn plus loans and tax credits. Originally to be a 4nm fab opening in 2024, the current fab became a 2nm facility opening in 2025, which has now been put back to 2026.

The  building is said to be more than 90% complete, but has not yet been equipped as there was no business case for equipping it while there were no customers.