Elon Musk is about to do something that would have sounded absurd five years ago: pitch a semiconductor megafactory to the company that makes the machines no one else on Earth can replicate.

Musk will appear virtually at ASML’s Technology Conference on June 12, 2026, to lay out his vision for Terafab, an ambitious chip manufacturing facility estimated to cost around $55 billion. The timing is not accidental. SpaceX is barreling toward an IPO with projected valuations between $1.75 trillion and $1.8 trillion.

ASML shares climbed more than 3% in premarket trading on June 11 after the company confirmed Musk’s participation.

What Terafab actually is, and why it matters

Tesla needs custom chips for its AI training infrastructure, autonomous driving systems, and its Optimus robot program. SpaceX needs radiation-hardened processors for Starlink satellites and rocket avionics. xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence venture, needs massive quantities of compute hardware. Right now, all of that silicon comes from external foundries, primarily TSMC in Taiwan.

The Terafab concept first surfaced publicly in May 2026, when Musk detailed the project as part of a broader push toward domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

ASML’s involvement is the detail that gives this project credibility. The Dutch company holds a monopoly on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, the equipment required to manufacture chips at the most advanced process nodes. If ASML is giving Musk a keynote slot at its own conference, the relationship has progressed well beyond casual interest.

Intel has also been mentioned as a potential partner in the Terafab initiative.

The SpaceX IPO looms large

A valuation range of $1.75 trillion to $1.8 trillion would make SpaceX one of the largest IPOs in history. Terafab is the narrative bridge. By demonstrating that his companies are building their own semiconductor supply chain, Musk can argue that SpaceX won’t be vulnerable to the chip shortages and supply chain disruptions that have hammered the broader tech industry in recent years.

The strategy mirrors what Musk has done before. Tesla built its own battery cells, its own AI training chips (the D1 for Dojo, the Hardware 4 and 5 for Full Self-Driving), and its own Supercharger network.

What this means for investors

For ASML shareholders, Musk’s appearance is a straightforward positive signal. Every new fab project means more orders for EUV machines, which cost upward of $350 million each. ASML’s premarket pop reflects the market pricing in at least the possibility of a major new customer relationship.

Intel investors should watch closely as well. If the Terafab partnership materializes, it could provide Intel’s foundry division with a flagship anchor customer at a time when the company desperately needs wins to justify its own massive capital expenditure cycle.