Elon Musk Elevates Expectations for Tesla’s AI5 and AI6 Chips

Elon Musk has announced ambitious goals for Tesla’s in-house silicon program, focusing on the upcoming AI5 and AI6 chips. In a series of recent posts on X, Musk described these chips as pivotal to Tesla’s future, particularly regarding high-volume products such as the Optimus humanoid robot and the Cybercab.

Musk confirmed that Tesla has successfully completed a design review for the AI5 chip, which will initially be produced by TSMC in Taiwan before shifting to manufacturing in Arizona. By consolidating its chip design efforts into a single architecture, Tesla aims to concentrate its silicon talent on creating a high-performance platform. Musk noted, “Just had a great design review today with the Tesla AI5 chip design team! This is going to be an epic chip. And AI6 to follow has a shot at being the best AI chip by far.”

In his communications, Musk emphasized that the AI5 chip is expected to be the top inference chip for models below approximately 250 billion parameters, boasting “the lowest cost silicon and best performance per watt.” He further stated that the AI6 chip, which is set to follow AI5, is likely to surpass its predecessor in performance.

AI6 as a Replacement for Project Dojo

While the AI5 chip nears production, attention is also turning to AI6 as Tesla’s next significant target. This chip will be manufactured at Samsung’s upcoming facility in Texas, part of a multibillion-dollar agreement to support Tesla’s next-generation products. Musk indicated that AI6 could replace Project Dojo as Tesla’s primary training platform, given its capabilities for both inference and training workloads.

Industry experts have echoed Musk’s assessment. Former Apple and Rivian engineer Phil Beisel remarked that “AI6 is now Dojo.” Musk responded affirmatively, using a “bullseye” emoji to indicate his agreement. He has also expressed his intention to personally oversee operations at Samsung’s AI6 factory in Texas to ensure that production aligns with Tesla’s requirements.

With the AI5 and AI6 chips, Tesla is positioning itself to enhance its technological capabilities significantly, which could have far-reaching implications for the company and the electric vehicle industry at large. These developments highlight Musk’s commitment to innovation and the strategic direction Tesla is pursuing in the competitive tech landscape.