Musk will invest $3 billion to build a research-based chip factory. The chip project is expected to use Intel technology.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company plans to invest about $3 billion in building a research-based chip factory in Texas. Musk said on Wednesday during the company's quarterly earnings call that the research factory will be built within the existing Texas Gigafactory campus. The factory will only be able to produce a few thousand wafers per month, serving as a platform for testing new technologies and processes. Musk stated that SpaceX will lead the early stages of a larger-scale chip project called Terafab. Intel has already signed on to support the project, and as a partner, Intel will provide expertise in chip design, manufacturing, and packaging. Musk said, "So far, what we've sorted out is that Tesla is responsible for the research-based chip factory, while SpaceX is in charge of the initial stages of Terafab. As for the rest, we continue to explore." During the call, someone requested further details on Intel's involvement. Musk responded that the plan is to use Intel's most advanced production process, 14nm. This process currently does not have customer orders. Intel's stock price rose about 3% after hours on Wednesday following these statements.