Elon Musk’s inner circle has reached out to semiconductor equipment suppliers, seeking pricing and delivery timelines for photomasks, etchers, deposition systems and testing tools. Conversations have included Samsung Electronics, which offered capacity at its Texas facility, and Intel has also signaled participation in the initiative.

The Terafab initiative aims to build a pilot fabrication line in Austin that processes 3,000 wafers per month and ultimately delivers 1 terawatt of annual computing capacity. Analysts estimate capital spending between $5 trillion and $13 trillion, reflecting the massive scale of chipmaking equipment and infrastructure required.

News of Tesla’s chipmaking advance sparked a sentiment boost, with Tesla shares rising over 2% in premarket trading. Semiconductor equipment names like Tokyo Electron, Applied Materials and Lam Research also saw gains as investors priced in potential new orders.