Tesla Poaches Intel Chip Fab Startup Expert to Lead Terafab

Tesla poached an engineer from Intel who was responsible for launching chip production using the 18A process — Intel's most advanced — as well as managing the 22 and 14 nanometer norms. At Tesla, he will lead the Terafab project, which involves building a large-scale chip manufacturing plant from scratch. According to CNews.

Who moved and what they will do

• The specialist led Intel's launch of production using the 18A process — the company's most advanced process technology
• He also oversaw the development of the 22 and 14 nm processes
• At Tesla, the expert will head the Terafab project — building a chip manufacturing plant from scratch
• The move is documented by CNews as part of the exodus of key engineering talent from Intel to competitors

Why Tesla needs its own chip production

Tesla has been investing for several years in developing its own chips for autopilot and AI training: first came the chip for the Full Self-Driving system, then the Dojo supercomputer based on proprietary D1 accelerators. Elon Musk has repeatedly stated plans to scale up the company's computing capacity for training AI models for autonomous driving and robotics, rather than relying entirely on third-party silicon suppliers.

The Terafab project, given the scale of the task — building a plant from scratch — suggests capacity far larger than Tesla's current chip lines. Hiring a specialist specifically in 18A — the process Intel is betting on to regain leadership in chip manufacturing from TSMC and Samsung — strengthens Tesla's competencies precisely in the area of bringing new, not yet optimized production lines online, not just chip design itself.

A difficult period for Intel

Intel has faced a series of challenges in its manufacturing business in recent years: the company lags TSMC in contract chip manufacturing market share, invests billions in new U.S. factories, and simultaneously loses experienced engineers whom competitors and customers wanting to build their own production want to poach. The 18A technology process should serve Intel Foundry as key proof that the company can compete for external customer orders, not just produce chips for its own products — so the loss of the very specialists who launched this process is perceived by the industry as particularly painful.

What this means

The exodus of experienced engineers working on cutting-edge processes from Intel to competitors like Tesla shows that the competition for talent in chip manufacturing is intensifying as more technology companies seek to build their own factories and production lines for AI chips instead of purchasing capacity from third-party foundries.