Seoul [South Korea], August 12 : Samsung Electronics' USD 16.5 billion deal to manufacture Tesla's next-generation AI6 processors has gained new weight after Tesla shut down its Dojo supercomputing team, a move widely seen as a sign the electric carmaker will lean more on external chip partners. The development, reports The Korea Herald, is a possible deepening of ties between the South Korean tech giant and the US automaker.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed last week that the company will now focus on developing its AI5 and AI6 chips, custom processors built for self-driving technology and AI workloads, rather than splitting resources on different designs. "It doesn't make sense for Tesla to divide its sources and scale two quite different AI chip designs," Musk wrote on X, adding, "The Tesla AI5, AI6 and subsequent chips will be excellent for inference and at least pretty good for training. All effort is focused on that."
Dojo, launched in 2021 with Tesla's custom D1 chip, was meant to power the company's Autopilot, Full Self-Driving systems, and Optimus humanoid robot. But Bloomberg reported that Musk ordered the team to disband, reassigning engineers to other projects, including data centers. The shift will increase Tesla's reliance on partners such as Nvidia, AMD, and Samsung Electronics, the report noted.
In July, Samsung announced a record USD 16.5 billion contract to produce Tesla's AI6 chips through 2033 at its Taylor, Texas, plant. Musk called the disclosed figure "just the bare minimum," hinting that the final value could be higher. He also revealed holding a video call with Samsung Electronics Chair Lee Jae-yong "to go over what a real partnership would be like."
Lee, who has been in the US since the July 29 meeting with business leaders, is now at the center of speculation about a possible meeting with Tesla's top executives. "In the past, foundries only shared processes and manufacturing, but they are now evolving to also share design," an industry official said. "Samsung has long-standing capabilities in design, so there are many areas where it could collaborate with Tesla."
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