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Musk Targets South Korea’s Chip Talent in Rare Direct Appeal
Elon Musk has personally intervened in a Tesla recruitment drive targeting South Korea’s semiconductor engineers, posting a direct appeal on X just months after signing a $16.5 billion manufacturing contract with Samsung Electronics — a move that has intensified concerns in Seoul about an outflow of the skilled talent underpinning the country’s 70%-plus share of the global memory chip market.
The Pitch
Musk reposted a Tesla Korea hiring notice on X on Tuesday, adding South Korean flag emojis and writing: “If you’re in Korea and want to work on chip design, fabrication or AI software, join Tesla!” Tesla Korea had posted the job listing a day earlier, seeking AI chip design engineers for a project the company describes as developing architecture for “the world’s highest-level mass-produced AI chips with the largest production volume globally.” Applicants are asked to email [email protected] with a résumé and descriptions of the three most challenging technical problems they have solved in their careers.
While Musk frequently shares Tesla hiring posts, explicitly singling out semiconductor professionals in a specific country is unusual. Korean media — including the Korea Herald and Korea Times — amplified the post within hours, framing it as both a compliment to Korean engineering and a potential threat to domestic talent retention.
The Samsung Connection
The recruitment drive is inseparable from Tesla’s deepening relationship with Samsung Electronics. In July 2025, the companies signed a $16.5 billion contract for Samsung to manufacture Tesla’s A16 chips at its fabrication facility in Taylor, Texas. Musk said at the time that he would personally stay near the Samsung fab to oversee production — a remark widely interpreted as signalling broader semiconductor ambitions beyond chip design alone.
Tesla already uses both TSMC and Samsung to produce its current-generation chips and recently began packaging operations at Intel’s Arizona facility. The Korean recruitment push suggests Tesla wants engineers who understand Samsung’s process technology from the inside — professionals who can bridge the gap between Tesla’s chip architecture and Samsung’s foundry capabilities.
A Chip Every Twelve Months
Tesla’s AI chip roadmap has accelerated sharply. The company currently ships its fourth-generation AI4 chip in vehicles and data centres, with several million units already deployed. AI5 is nearly complete, with limited production expected in 2026 and mass production starting in 2027. AI6 is in early development, with samples anticipated in 2026 and volume output targeted for mid-2028. “Our AI5 chip design is almost done and AI6 is in early stages, but there will be AI7, AI8 and AI9,” Musk wrote on X in January, confirming the goal of bringing a new chip design into volume production every twelve months.
Musk has claimed Tesla’s chips will consume roughly one-third the power of Nvidia’s Blackwell processor while costing just 10% as much to manufacture. The ambition is to produce more AI chips than all competitors combined — a target that requires not just design talent but deep expertise in fabrication, advanced packaging and high-bandwidth memory integration.
Tera Fab and the Texas Pipeline
The talent hunt supports Tesla’s broader manufacturing build-out. At the January earnings call, Musk discussed constructing a “Tera Fab” — a large-scale chip fabrication facility starting at 100,000 wafer starts per month with potential expansion to one million. Separately, a fan-out panel-level packaging plant in Texas has reached equipment delivery stage and aims to begin limited production by the third quarter of 2026, reaching full volume by early 2027.
Musk has also floated potential collaboration with Intel, which operates its own fabrication plants and recently received a 10% US government equity stake but needs external clients for its latest manufacturing technology. “Maybe we’ll do something with Intel,” Musk told shareholders in November. “We haven’t signed any deal, but it’s probably worth having discussions.”
Korea’s Brain Drain Fear
South Korea commands over 70% of the global memory chip market through Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, and has built one of the world’s deepest pools of semiconductor engineering talent. Industry officials told the Korea Herald that Tesla’s push “points to broader ambitions beyond design” — specifically the ability to optimise AI accelerators for Samsung’s foundry process, integrate high-bandwidth memory and develop advanced packaging that combines processors and memory into single systems.
The concern is not new. Korean chipmakers have faced persistent poaching from US and Chinese competitors, and the government has invested heavily in semiconductor workforce development to offset attrition. Musk’s personal involvement elevates the stakes: when Tesla’s CEO directly addresses Korean engineers by name of country, it carries a recruitment signal that a standard job listing cannot match.
