AUSTIN, Texas — Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he has signed a $16-billion chip deal with Samsung. It is a major win for both Austin area companies and the town of Taylor.
“Elon Musk coming in for $16 billion, I think it will sure make property values go up,” said Diego Guillen who recently bought a house near the Samsung semiconductor plant in Taylor.
Tesla’s contract with Samsung means that Taylor is likely to see more sold signs popup area subdivisions. Guillen always thought buying a home near Samsung’s fabrication factory would be a promising investment, but this latest news has him thinking he could not have bought his house at a better time.
“The equity will grow for sure, no doubt,” said Guillen.
That optimistic attitude is shared by many in the small-town northeast of Austin.
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“We really have to get on the stick building some more houses,” said Tia Rae Stone, CEO and President of the Taylor Texas Chamber of Commerce. “We do think that property values will increase which will also allow our tax rates to decrease because we’ll be moving more of that tax burden to businesses rather than residential.”
Samsung is set to manufacture Tesla’s next-generation AI chips at the Taylor semiconductor plant. It is a major win for Samsung and the type of deal the Korean company has been trying to snag during a slowdown in demand for some microchips.
“There is still a lot of excitement, a lot of hope, there is a lot of future in front of us. This kind of announcement will be the kind of thing that pushes that into the next gear,” said Stone.
“I would recommend a lot of people come over here before things grow even more,” said Guillen.
The new chip will be used to run the self-driving software in Tesla’s vehicles. Musk says Samsung has agreed to let Tesla “assist in maximizing manufacturing efficiency.”