SpaceX founder Elon Musk addresses members of the media during a press conference announcing new developments for the reusable Crew Dragon spacecraft at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, October 10, 2019.
Philip Pacheco | AFP | Getty Images
As he prepares to take SpaceX public in the largest IPO in history, CEO Elon Musk spoke to employees at ASML, Europe’s most valuable company, on Thursday, emphasizing the importance of chip manufacturing to his two major businesses.
As the sole provider of critical advanced chip-making machinery, ASML is likely to become a supplier to Musk’s large-scale chip manufacturing facility in Texas, known as Terafab.
Musk convened virtually at ASML’s annual technology conference, where he had a hearth conversation with CEO Christophe Fouquet. Only employees were allowed to attend the event, but Musk’s attendance was confirmed by the company.
This came just days after Musk wrote in a post about X that “ASML should be cherished and supported. ASML is probably the greatest company in Europe.”
The Terafab project is Musk’s effort to move SpaceX beyond rockets and into advanced chip manufacturing. Musk formally announced plans to manufacture Terafab’s chips in March. tesla and SpaceX, which owns the artificial intelligence laboratory xAI.
Netherlands-based ASML is the only company in the world that makes the $400 million machine needed for an advanced chip manufacturing step known as extreme ultraviolet lithography. Without ASML, the world’s three largest chip manufacturers (Taiwan Semiconductor, Samsung, and Intel) would not be able to produce cutting-edge chips for AI.
EUV machines will become a necessity within Terafab. And SpaceX will need more and more chips in its data centers after a recent deal to provide computing power to Google and Anthropic.
Once fully ramped up, Terafab will cost between $55 billion and $119 billion. SpaceX secured tax incentives for the project last week at a controversial public hearing in Grimes County, Texas, despite opposition from neighbors.
At ASML, Musk’s comments received backlash from some employees. According to Dutch newspaper Eindhovens Dagblad, a group of employees wrote on an internal communications platform ahead of the event that Musk’s appearance was inconsistent with ASML’s values, citing his involvement in controversial US politics and what some described as his “Nazi sympathies.”
As a major supplier to all leading edge chip manufacturers, ASML is known for maintaining a neutral profile that allows it to function well alongside a complex global network of customers.
ASML is expanding its footprint at its headquarters in Eindhoven, with a new campus scheduled to open in 2028.
Watch: How ASML accelerates chips with new $400 million high-NA machine
