Texas-based Taylor plant, which has invested over $50 billion in a Samsung semiconductor factory, recently did something quite interesting — Elon Musk directly requested an office inside the plant.

This is not your average "client inspection." Lee Jae-yong flew quietly to the United States this week and took a tour of the plant with Musk, during which they finalized many technical details on the spot. Industry insiders are saying this marks the official deep integration of the so-called "Samsung—Tesla partnership."

Why call it deep integration? Because Tesla is playing very aggressively this time — from chip design, production line layout, to packaging, they are involved throughout the process. Musk's office is located inside the factory, just a 45-minute drive away. This "on-site" model is unprecedented in the wafer foundry industry.

The $16.5 billion AI6 chip contract signed last July now seems just the beginning. Samsung had previously snatched some AI5 orders from TSMC, and now they’ve secured the AI6 order as well, carving out a niche in the advanced process market. Keep in mind, TSMC still holds about 70% of the global market share, with Samsung at only 8% — but that number could change.

Samsung experienced setbacks in 3nm process yields, which were quite poor at first. However, they have stabilized in 2nm production. Once the Taylor plant comes online mid-next year, their pace of catching up should accelerate significantly. Tesla clearly sees this as well — in autonomous driving, AI, robotics, and other business areas, chip supply chains must be tightly controlled, ideally within the US.

For Samsung, this partnership is more than just securing orders. Increasing the utilization rate of the Taylor plant can also boost their recognition for wafer foundry capabilities in the US market, giving them confidence to compete for major clients like Nvidia and AMD down the line.

In essence, it’s a win-win: Tesla needs a stable AI chip production base, and Samsung aims to establish a foothold in the US market. As for whether this can truly shake TSMC’s position? By this time next year, we may see some clues.