TSLA Stock Climbs Premarket: Chamath Says Tesla Is Going ‘All In On Nuclear’ As $10B Texas Solar Plan Emerges

• Project Crystal Sun would require a proposed $10.116 billion investment from 2026 through 2028.
• The Texas facility could create 9,712 permanent jobs and begin commercial operations in early 2029.
• The project could revive Tesla’s struggling solar business and complement its fast-growing battery-storage operation.

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) climbed 0.1% premarket on Thursday, with venture capitalist and All-In podcast co-host Chamath Palihapitiya spotlighting the EV maker’s proposed $10.1 billion solar factory, declaring that Tesla was going “all in on nuclear.”

TSLA stock fell nearly 2% on Wednesday to close at $327.51, leaving shares down 0.3% for the week. 

Tesla Unveils $10.1B Solar Plan

“Actually it’s going all in on solar, but they are the same thing — the sun is a nuclear reactor, just farther away,” Palihapitiya said on X. His remarks come after Tesla outlined “Project Crystal Sun” in an application seeking a 10-year property-tax break under Texas’ Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act.

The proposed factory would occupy parts of a 3,050-acre site near Richmond in Fort Bend County. Tesla expects to invest $10.116 billion, including about $1.5 billion in real estate and $8.6 billion in equipment, from 2026 through 2028, with commercial operations potentially beginning in the first quarter of 2029.

An economic-impact analysis by Kroll estimates the project would create 9,712 permanent jobs with an annual payroll of about $1.3 billion at full operations. It could contribute roughly $107 billion to the Texas economy and generate $6.4 billion in state and local taxes over 38 years. However, the investment is not final. Tesla is evaluating sites across multiple states and said the Texas location would not be competitive without the requested tax limitation and other incentives.

Musk Backs Solar Over Earthbound Fusion

Palihapitiya’s comments echo Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s long-standing view that solar is the ultimate scalable energy source. “The Sun is an enormous, free fusion reactor in the sky,” Musk said last year, arguing it was “super dumb” to build relatively small fusion reactors on Earth.

He had also said that the Sun was “all that matters long-term.” Earlier, Musk predicted that energy harnessed on Earth would increase a hundredfold and come “mostly” from “solar aka fusion aka starlight.” “Fission is good, but nothing comes close to that staggeringly gigantic fusion reactor in the sky,” Musk said in 2024.

Tesla Plans Fully Integrated Solar Factory 

Project Crystal Sun would differ from many U.S. solar facilities that assemble modules using imported cells. The filing describes a vertically integrated plant with ingot and wafer manufacturing, coating, metallization, printing, cell testing and module-assembly equipment. This will allow Tesla to convert raw polysilicon into finished solar products at one U.S. complex.

The plan follows reports in March that Tesla was discussing a $2.9 billion purchase of Chinese solar-manufacturing equipment. At Davos in January, Musk said Tesla and SpaceX were each working toward 100 gigawatts of annual U.S. solar-manufacturing capacity, suggesting it could take about three years. The proposed Texas facility’s early-2029 operating date indicates that the buildout could stretch beyond its initial timeline.

Tesla Rebuilds Struggling Solar Unit

The project would be Tesla’s biggest attempt in years to rebuild its struggling solar business. Tesla bought SolarCity for $2.6 billion in 2016, but its Solar Roof never came close to Musk’s goal of 1,000 installations a week. Manufacturing partner Panasonic left Tesla’s Buffalo factory in 2020, and by 2024, Tesla had stopped reporting how much solar equipment it installed.

A potential turnaround began in January, when Tesla introduced a new U.S.-assembled solar panel from its Buffalo plant. The factory can initially produce just over 300 megawatts of panels annually, which is still far below Musk’s eventual goal of 100 gigawatts, or more than 300x its current capacity.

Tesla’s successful battery-storage business could help support the solar revival. The unit generated $12.8 billion in revenue in 2025, allowing Tesla to potentially sell complete energy systems that combine solar panels with Powerwall home batteries, utility-scale Megapacks and software that manages electricity use.

How Do Retail Traders Feel About TSLA?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for TSLA slipped to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral’ levels a week ago amid an 82% jump in 24-hour message volumes.

So far this year, Tesla's stock has lagged its "Magnificent Seven" peers, making it the group's worst performer, down about 27%. 

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

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