Samsung signs $16.5bn foundry deal with Tesla, reviving Taylor

2025-07-28 · Publisher : Samsung Electronics · Domain : Industry 4.0 & 5.0

On 28 July 2025, Samsung announces a $16.5bn 2 nm foundry contract running to end-2033; Elon Musk says it covers Tesla's AI6 chip, to be made at the new Taylor, Texas, fab, which had lacked customers.

### Background On 28 July 2025, **Samsung Electronics** discloses a **₩22.76tn ($16.5bn)** foundry contract with a then-unnamed client. The same day, **Elon Musk** reveals on X that "Samsung's giant new fab will be dedicated to making **Tesla**'s next-generation AI6 chip". ### Key facts - Process: **2 nm**, production from July 2025 to **December 2033**. - Largest single order in Samsung Foundry's history and its first large 2 nm contract with a Big Tech client, according to Korea JoongAng Daily. - The **Taylor**, Texas, fab, delayed for lack of orders, is now expected to start operations. - Elon Musk adds that Samsung already makes the AI4 chip, and that TSMC will make AI5, first in Taiwan then Arizona. - Samsung's foundry division is estimated to have lost more than ₩4tn ($2.9bn) the previous year. ### Why it matters A US chip plant needs a multi-year anchor customer to pay off. This contract turns Taylor from an underused site into a second advanced logic hub in the US after Arizona. It also shows carmakers now designing their own AI chips and securing production capacity themselves. ### Takeaway An eight-year automotive contract revives a Texas chip plant: foundry capacity becomes a direct concern of the car industry.

Tags : Semi-conducteurs, États-Unis, Relocalisation, Automobile, Usine