Elon Musk Reveals That He Pressures TSMC And Samsung To Speed Up Tesla’s AI Chip Output: ‘Five Years To Me Is An Eternity’ – Samsung Electronics Co (OTC:SSNLF), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

On Friday, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed that the company is pushing its chipmaking partners to move far faster than traditional semiconductor timelines as it races to scale its next-generation AI hardware.

Musk Says Chip Fabs Move ‘Like Lightning’ — But Not Fast Enough For Tesla

Speaking during a virtual fireside chat with investor Ron Baron at the 32nd Annual Baron Investment Conference, Musk said he has “much respect” for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NYSE:TSM) and Samsung Electronics Co. (OTC:SSNLF).

He noted that Tesla and SpaceX have worked with both over the years, but added that even the world’s leading foundries can’t match Tesla’s pace.

“It doesn’t appear to be fast enough, and when I ask how long it will take from start to finish to get a new chip fab built, they tell me five years to get to blank production. I’m like, five years to me is an eternity,” he said, explaining that his planning horizon is closer to one to two years. By year three, he joked, his timeline reaches “infinity.”

While he acknowledged that both TSMC and Samsung are “moving like lightning,” he warned that the pace still risks becoming “an eliminating factor” for Tesla if suppliers cannot meet the company’s aggressive AI chip demand.

See Also: Ron Baron Says Tesla Could 5X And SpaceX 10X — Says Musk Is ‘Like Da Vinci’

Tesla Confirms Dual-Fab Strategy For AI5 And AI6 Chips

Earlier this month, Musk also confirmed that Tesla’s upcoming AI5 and AI6 chips will be manufactured at both Samsung’s Taylor, Texas, facility and TSMC’s Fab 21 in Arizona, despite earlier remarks that suggested Samsung might handle production alone.

He said the chips will look slightly different depending on the fab due to manufacturing translation differences, but Tesla’s software will run identically across both versions.

The company plans to begin producing AI5 in 2026, with AI6 following about a year later. Musk reiterated that AI5 is expected to deliver a 40-times performance boost over Tesla’s current generation, with AI6 targeting roughly double that.

Huang Cautions Tesla On Challenges Of Advanced Chip Manufacturing

Meanwhile, in November 2025, Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang cautioned Musk against underestimating the difficulty of building an advanced chip factory after the Tesla chief announced plans for an in-house fab capable of producing up to one million AI chips per month.

Speaking in Taiwan, Huang said creating a leading-edge semiconductor plant is “extremely hard,” noting that success requires not just infrastructure but the deep engineering expertise that has made TSMC the world’s top foundry.

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