Rural Texas Pushback Mounts Over SpaceX's Ambitious Terafab Chip Plant

Grimes County residents opposed SpaceX's Terafab chip factory proposal (a SpaceX–Tesla–Intel venture), citing lack of transparency, environmental impacts, water and traffic concerns, as the county approved a tax abatement and reinvestment zone. The Terafab plan could cost at least $55 billion and, with future phases, up to $119 billion, and may span as much as 100 million square feet, potentially making it one of the world’s largest chip plants, while SpaceX says it would create about 1,800 local jobs. This backlash reflects a broader national resistance to AI data-center expansion.