Tesla Makes First Major Terafab Hire With Semiconductor Veteran Gary Jiang

Tesla has made one of its most significant hires yet for its semiconductor manufacturing plans, bringing in longtime Intel executive Gary Jiang to lead the company’s Terafab initiative in Texas.

According to Jiang’s public profile, he joined Tesla in June as “Director, Tera Fab,” and is already based in Austin.

Intel veteran brings decades of chip manufacturing experience

Jiang arrives at Tesla after nearly 18 years at Intel, where he most recently served as Factory Manager at the company’s Ocotillo Campus in Chandler, Arizona. The hire was first reported by Electrek.

Jiang was involved in several of Intel’s most advanced manufacturing programs, including technology transfer efforts for Intel’s 18A process technology, fab construction and tool installation, and preparations for high-volume production. Earlier positions included management roles across Intel’s 14nm and 22nm manufacturing operations, according to his LinkedIn profile.

First major leadership hire for Terafab

The addition of Jiang represents the first major leadership appointment to emerge publicly for Terafab, the massive semiconductor manufacturing effort unveiled earlier this year by Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI. The project aims to dramatically reduce the time required to design, manufacture, package, and test advanced chips by bringing nearly every step of the process under a single roof.

His experience aligns closely with the challenges Tesla faces as it attempts something few companies in the world have successfully accomplished — building and operating an advanced semiconductor fabrication facility.

Jiang’s expertise spans technology transfer, fab startups, strategic planning, yield improvement, and manufacturing cost reduction, all areas that become critical when bringing a new chip fabrication facility online. He also holds a doctorate in materials science, a field closely tied to semiconductor manufacturing.

Tesla’s vision for Terafab

Tesla first announced Terafab in March during an event in Austin, where Elon Musk described the effort as “the most epic chip building exercise in history by far.”

The long-term goal is to vertically integrate chip production in much the same way Tesla has done with batteries and vehicle manufacturing. By controlling everything from chip design to packaging and testing, Tesla hopes future processor revisions could move from concept to validation in days rather than months.