$Intel(INTC)$
Musk, like most large US companies, benefits from government contracts. Without that steady money stream, he knows the ride would not be so smooth, since income from non-government sources can swing wildly either way and is never reliable. That is why he needs INTC's secure enclave with the government-approved clearances. Those take years to get, and it is questionable whether Musk or his manufacturing operations would ever qualify on their own.
TSM is a foreign company that picked up a large number of DOD contracts for chip manufacturing without the appropriate clearances. That was only allowed because the US did not have the capability before INTC committed to rebuilding critical domestic supply manufacturing. Naturally, competitors are not thrilled about this, and they are using every strategy available to undermine it.
The biggest problem for INTC is not technical capability or staying ahead of TSM. It is the fact that companies sitting on huge amounts of cash are using it to derail US national interest. US fabless chipmakers and the propaganda press are being used as tools by competitor countries and rivals.
I am fairly sure Musk gets this, which is why he shut down the rumors about Terafab replacing INTC with TSM. That is never going to happen, and the gossipers know it too. For now, they are just playing the game to move stock prices around.
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