Much ado about nothing?

Intel stock was defying the chip slump Wednesday after CEO Lip-Bu Tan and SpaceX’s Elon Musk clarified the company’s role in the gigantic Terafab AI chip project.

It’s good news–or at least better news than it might have been when Musk said on Saturday he was in discussions with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing over collaborating on the Tesla and SpaceX project that Intel joined in April.

Tan said Intel will continue working on the project, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, while Musk played down any potential involvement by TSMC. “No, we will build and run the fab. Let there be ZERO doubt about that,” he said in a post on X, replying to a suggestion that TSMC could own and run the plant.

“Maybe TSMC subleases part of the Terafab if they want, but nothing more than that,” he added.

While not as bad as perhaps feared, TSMC’s involvement still isn’t great news for Intel. It seems the market was under the impression Intel would have the project to itself.

Intel’s shares fell 5.7% over Monday and Tuesday but were up 2% early Wednesday. That’s as the broader sector was falling—the PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) was falling 2%. Advanced Micro Devices were down more than 1%.

Intel stock remains up more than 205% in 2026.