Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, and SpaceX said the automaker may be able to “tape out” its next-generation AI6 chips in December. “Taping out” refers to a stage when a chip design is finalized and sent to a factory for production.
Musk said last year that Samsung Electronics would make the AI6 chips, likely to be used in self-driving cars and humanoid robots at Tesla’s new factory in Taylor, Texas, after the Korean company entered into a $16.5 billion deal to supply artificial intelligence chips to the automaker.
“With some luck and acceleration using AI, we might be able to tape out AI6 in December,” Musk said on his social media platform X, when asked when the chip would reach final design.
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A Samsung executive said on Wednesday that it plans to produce Tesla chips, based on Samsung’s advanced 2-nanomete process, in the second half of 2027.
Musk also said that SpaceX AI and Tesla would continue to order Nvidia chips at scale. This comes as Tesla is designing its fifth-generation AI chip to power its autonomous ambitions. The chips power Tesla’s autonomous driving systems, including the Full Self-Driving software.
SpaceX recently acquired xAI in an all-stock deal ahead of a potential blockbuster initial public offering (IPO) for SpaceX later this year. This is Musk’s first post referring to the combined entity as SpaceX AI.
Musk also said in a separate X post that the AI5 chip can be used for training in data centers but is primarily optimized for AI edge compute in humanoid robot Optimus and Robotaxi. He also said that the company expects a wide release of an update to its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software in a few weeks.
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Musk had said on March 14 that Tesla’s Terafab project to make artificial intelligence chips will launch in seven days. “We haven’t signed any deal, but it’s probably worth having discussions with Intel,” he said. He also reiterated that Tesla was partnering with Taiwan’s TSMC and South Korea’s Samsung. “Even when we extrapolate the best-case scenario for chip production from our suppliers, it’s still not enough,” Musk said at Tesla’s AGM in 2025.
“So I think we may have to do a Tesla terafab. It’s like giga but way bigger. I can’t see any other way to get to the volume of chips that we’re looking for. So I think we’re probably going to have to build a gigantic chip fab. It’s got to be done,” he said.