--- title: "TeraFab: what it means · The AI Compute Race · DRYBURGH" source: https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/terafab description: "TeraFab: The fab Tesla and SpaceX announced for themselves, with logic, memory, packaging, test and the making of lithography masks under one roof." --- # TeraFab What does “TeraFab” mean? TeraFabThe fab Tesla and SpaceX announced for themselves, with logic, memory, packaging, test and the making of lithography masks under one roof. It is the largest private buyer’s attempt to build around the island. *Chapters 4, 5.* From *The AI Compute Race*. [Read the book](https://dryburgh.com/vol1#buy) Defined in [Chapter 5 — The Island in Every Machine](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/notes/chapter-5). ## Where the book uses it - [Chapter 4 — One Rack](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/notes/chapter-4)How a datacenter is actually built, from a converted factory in Memphis to a greenfield campus in Texas, and what the clock from first ground to first power really measures. - [Chapter 5 — The Island in Every Machine](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/notes/chapter-5)Why every accelerator runs through Taiwan: the foundry, the packaging and the memory that are booked years ahead, and what that does to anyone arriving late with cash. ## Sources that use it - Agreement between the Office of the Governor, Anderson-Shiro Consolidated Independent School District and TeraFab AI, LLC for limitation on taxable value for school district maintenance and operations ad valorem taxes, agreement J0035, signed 3, 5 and 18 August 2026, one of eight such agreements (J0035 to J0042) posted by the Texas Comptroller (Exhibit A: “Construction Period Beginning Date: December 1, 2026”; “Construction Period Ending Date: December 31, 2028”; incentive period 1 January 2029 to 31 December 2038, the taxable value “ZERO” until construction is complete and then “50 PERCENT of the Market Value”; “10 jobs” and “$20 million” of investment required; every page a scan, the passages read from the page images). [In the Sources](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/sources/filing#tx-jeti-terafab-aug26) - Elon Musk unveils $20 billion ‘TeraFab’ chip project to make chips, memory, and package processors all under one roof — targets a terawatt of annual compute, *Tom’s Hardware*, 22 March 2026 (Musk, from the Seaholm Power Plant livestream: “We either build the TeraFab, or we don’t have the chips...”; “probably a hundred to two hundred gigawatts a year of terrestrial chips, and probably on the order of a terawatt of chips in space... Just because of power constraints on the ground”; space-hardened chips to run hotter to reduce radiator mass; SpaceX acquired xAI in February 2026; on the existing suppliers, TSMC, Samsung and Micron, whom Musk said he would like “to expand as quickly as they can” (the paragraph after the terawatt quotation)). (article published 22 March 2026 reporting Musk’s announcement ‘Saturday night’ (21 March 2026) from the Seaholm Power Plant, Austin — the book’s 21 March is the event date and stands) [In the Sources](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/sources/press#tomshw-terafab) - Riley Trettel of SpaceX, quoted by Dana Hull, “SpaceX to Build Natural Gas Power Plants for Texas Chip Factory,” Bloomberg, 6 August 2026, and the Texas Comptroller’s JETI application J0035 for TeraFab AI, LLC (“We’re going to be building natural gas fired power plants, and we’re going to be building very large battery arrays in order to store energy”, said at a public meeting in Grimes County on 5 August 2026, with “We’re bringing our own power”; the application lists an “On-site power generation facility”, “Backup generation systems” and “Utility scale battery storage”; the article read whole on a subscription on 12 October 2026, the application read whole on 27 September 2026 by the close sweep). [In the Sources](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/sources/press#bloomberg-terafab-gas-aug26) ## Related terms - [Lithography](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/lithography) - [122 days](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/122-days) - [Abilene](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/abilene) - [Accelerator](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/accelerator) - [Advanced packaging](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/advanced-packaging) - [AI factory](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/ai-factory) - [Blackwell](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/blackwell) - [Booked, allocated, rationed](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/booked-allocated-rationed) - [CHIPS Act](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/chips-act) - [Colossus](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/colossus) - [Convertible](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/convertible) - [CoWoS](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/cowos) From the glossary of The AI Compute Race. - [Campuses](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/ledger) - [Tests](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/tests) - [Scorecard](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/scorecard) - [Data](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/data/releases) - [Chapter by chapter](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/companion) - [The record at a glance](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/observatory) - [The machine](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/machine) - [One campus, four futures](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/hyperion) - [Glossary](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary) - [People](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/people) - [Sources](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/sources) - [Notes](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/notes) - [Where the book was wrong](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/corrections) - [Where its sources were wrong](https://dryburgh.com/corrections?book=vol1) - [The Paper](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/paper) - [Consent](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/consent) - [Who builds and pays](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/parties) *The AI Compute Race: Five Races, One Machine* is a book by Lee S. Dryburgh, the first volume of THE COMPUTE ECONOMY, published by Dryburgh, an imprint of Contestra OÜ, Tallinn, Estonia; its record closes on 8 November 2026. [About the book](https://dryburgh.com/vol1)[Tell me when it is out](https://dryburgh.com/vol1#notify)