SpaceX has filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent Grimes County, Texas, from releasing public records connected to its proposed Terafab project, including the company’s full tax abatement application.
The lawsuit, filed in Travis County, names Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Grimes County as defendants. SpaceX argues that making the records public could reveal sensitive business information and put the company at a competitive disadvantage.
In the filing, SpaceX describes Terafab as a semiconductor and AI-hardware manufacturing facility planned for Grimes County in collaboration with Tesla. The company says its move into chip manufacturing is tied to plans for AI data centers in space.
The dispute began after local residents and Grimes County Citizens for Responsible Development requested documents showing how the Terafab deal was negotiated. The requests included SpaceX’s full tax abatement application and communications between the county, consultants, and SpaceX.
Grimes County initially argued that much of the material should remain confidential under several exceptions to the Texas Public Information Act. However, on July 28, the Texas Attorney General’s office rejected most of those arguments and ordered the county to release the records, while allowing some attorney-client communications to remain private.
The ruling also said that claims involving trade secrets and competitive harm would need to come directly from SpaceX rather than the county.
SpaceX is now making those arguments itself in court, asking a judge to block the records from being released.