While tech giants like Samsung and TSMC currently dominate the silicon landscape, Elon Musk has hinted that Tesla could potentially make its own chips in the future – and while the idea remains tentative, it’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility.
Tesla spends a fortune on silicon. The Dojo ExaPod supercomputer has a whopping 1.1 exaflops of computing power intended for training machine learning models for Tesla’s self-driving technology. Musk said in February 2024 that the company will spend “over a billion dollars” on Nvidia and AMD hardware this year just to stay competitive in AI. Making its own AI chips would be impossible for Tesla, but it could be done possible produces chips for its cars.
Currently, Tesla relies on Samsung for the main chips used in the Autopilot feature. Building a chip factory to make processors specifically for that task would be a significant undertaking. Important, but not impossible.
“Tesla could do it…”
A recent X exchange between Musk and legendary game developer John Carmack has sparked speculation. Carmack mused on the feasibility of a major technology company making its own custom chips rather than competing with established general-purpose companies. Musk’s response? “Tesla could do it, but I really hope it doesn’t have to.”
As concerns about dependence on Korean, Taiwanese and Chinese chipmakers grow, the opportunity to bring some of the silicon development in-house is undoubtedly tempting for Tesla, but the practicalities of such a venture mean the company will be left without a compelling reason to do so, it will be wise to stick to the status quo for the time being.
If PC gamer reports: “No one in their right mind would want to spend billions of dollars on something that has the obvious potential of not working properly for years, when you can just hire a highly experienced and cost-effective company to do it for you.”
Tesla could do it, but I really hope they don’t have toMarch 24, 2024