(Austin, Texas) Here, we’ll continue on our series where the discussion escalates from advanced AI and robotics into another frontier: nanotechnology and true atomic-scale manufacturing.
ELON MUSK: “Well, I think if you reframe things in terms of progress bar, like speaking of challenges. Progress towards a Kardashev 2 scale civilization”
Peter Diamandis introduces the idea of “atomic reassembly”, which is rearranging atoms precisely to build anything, like a sci-fi replicator.
Elon quickly connects this to current reality, noting that semiconductor fabs already achieve atomic-level precision for circuits (down to 2–3 nanometers, or roughly 4–9 silicon atoms wide).
Elon points out that today’s “2nm” process nodes are often marketing hype, but the core requirement remains near-atomic accuracy. Atoms must be placed exactly right.
Elon then drops a provocative critique: modern chip fabs are designing their ultra-cleanrooms wrong (overly focused on making the entire massive building sterile, with extreme air filtration and bunny suits that slow everything down).
Elon makes a confident bet: Tesla will build its own 2-nanometer fab (possibly a massive “TeraFab” to meet exploding AI chip demand), and it will be engineered so effectively that he can eat a cheeseburger and smoke a cigar right inside the fab without contaminating the wafers.
When pressed on how this avoids “cheeseburger grease” ruining the chips, Elon explains the key insight: maintain complete wafer isolation throughout the process, which is possibly the default in advanced fabs anyway.
Wafers travel sealed in boxes filled with pure nitrogen gas under slight positive pressure, creating an oxygen-free “nitrogen blanket” that kills bugs and blocks contaminants (Dave Blundin jokingly compares it to bananas at Walmart, preserved with similar insecticide-like methods). Combustion (like cigar smoke) needs oxygen to thrive, so the isolated system stays pristine while the human environment becomes far more livable and efficient.
The Transcript:
Peter D.: And then we get to nanotechnology, which takes it even a step further.
Elon: The thing about the—well, I’m not sure what you mean by—you mean like little nanobots?
Peter D.: Atomic reassembly.
Dave B.: Yeah.
Elon: Oh, yeah, yeah, sure, sure. I mean, we’re already doing atomic level assembly for circuits, you know.
Peter D.: Amazing. Two, three nanometers.
Dave B.: Yeah.
Elon: It’s only depending on how they’re arrayed. Four or five silicon atoms per nanometer. Yeah. So those are big atoms, though. They’re biggish.
Dave B.: Yeah, they’re not your little—
Elon: I mean, I’m saying they should actually describe the circuits in terms of an integer number of atoms in a specific place.
Dave B.: They should. It’s all angstroms now.
Elon: It’s just an integer. It’s like—we’ll call this the seven atom. Yeah, whatever. Yeah, like you say two nanometers, it’s…
Peter D.: Like no one knows.
Elon: Nine silicon atoms, something like that. They’ve got silicon and copper and you know, so. But a bunch of these things are just marketing numbers. Like the 2 nanometer is just a marketing number. Oh yeah. But you still need essentially close to atomic level precision. Like the atoms really, you need to be in the right spot.
So I think they’re getting clean rooms wrong by the way, in these modern fabs. I’m going to make a bet here.
Peter D.: Okay.
Dave B.: Okay.
Elon: That Tesla will have a 2 nanometer fab and I can eat a cheeseburger and smoke a cigar in the fab.
Peter D.: The air handling would be that good.
Dave B.: Do you have this sketched out in your mind? How are the atoms being placed? That they’re immune to cheeseburger grease.
Elon: They just maintain wafer isolation the entire time, which is actually the default for fabs. The wafers are transported in boxes of pure nitrogen gas under a slight positive—
Dave B.: So are the bananas at Walmart, just so you know.
Elon: Yeah, well that’s, it’s insecticide essentially. Like it’s pretty hard for anything that’s combusting to live without oxygen. Yep. So let’s talk about—so you like, you can kill the bugs just by putting a nitrogen blanket.
This leads into broader implications for radical abundance: if we perfect atomic reassembly at scale, manufacturing costs plummet, goods become nearly free, and humanity’s grand challenges shift dramatically.
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