TSMC Insider Says Musk’s Terafab Chip Plans Could Be Harder Than Mars Missions

Producing chips at Elon Musk’s planned Terafab project could be harder than sending humans to Mars, according to a person familiar with TSMC’s internal affairs, quoted by South Korean publication Hankyung.

Hankyung’s report also cites an official from Samsung and an analyst from South Korean firm Hanwha. Their comments distinguish between building a fabrication plant and running it successfully: with enough capital, constructing a plant is relatively easy, they say, but using it to produce chips at high yield is a much more complex undertaking.

The source material does not provide further details about Terafab’s production plans or the speakers’ identities. The comparison with Mars missions is attributed to the person familiar with TSMC, rather than presented as a technical assessment by the publication.