In the race for computing power in autonomous driving, Elon Musk clearly isn't willing to keep the vital points of control in others' hands. On March 14, Elon Musk officially announced that the Terafab project, a massive factory dedicated to producing artificial intelligence chips for Tesla, will start operating in seven days.

This move is not impulsive. At last year's shareholders' meeting, Elon Musk had already stated that even if suppliers fully utilized their production capacity, they still couldn't meet Tesla's demand for AI chips. To provide a solid computing foundation for FSD (full self-driving), it has become imperative to build a chip manufacturing plant far larger than a "super factory."

Currently, Tesla is fully designing its fifth-generation artificial intelligence chip (AI5). Although Elon Musk has mentioned that cooperation with TSMC and Samsung will continue, and even the possibility of joining forces with Intel cannot be ruled out, the start of Terafab sends a clear signal: Tesla aims to achieve full supply chain autonomy from design to manufacturing.

It is worth noting that just before the start of Terafab, there were reports that due to delays in Samsung's 2nm process, the mass production of Tesla's next-generation AI6 chip was forced to be postponed until the end of 2027. In the face of external foundries falling behind schedule, Elon Musk quickly launched the self-built factory project, which seems more like an extreme self-rescue against supply chain risks.

From building cars, rockets, to now deeply entering the field of chip manufacturing, Tesla is becoming increasingly like a hard-core semiconductor company. When this massive chip factory breaks ground in seven days, the global automotive AI chip landscape may undergo its most intense transformation.