Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has announced that the company’s Terafab project for the production of dedicated artificial intelligence chips will be launched within seven days. The news follows previous statements by the billionaire himself, who had explained how Tesla might have to build a mega chip production plant to meet the demand for its autonomous driving systems. Terafab would therefore represent a significant acceleration in the US company’s ambitions to more directly control the supply chain of critical semiconductors for Full Self-Driving software and for future generations of AI hardware.
Tesla prepares the Terafab project
The company, Reuters recalls, is developing its fifth-generation AI chip (AI5) with the aim of enhancing the computing capabilities necessary for advanced level autonomous driving. In the past, Musk himself had evoked possible collaborations with major players in the chip sector, citing Intel, TSMC and Samsung as potential or current partners in the various stages of development and production. While specifying that “we haven’t signed any agreement” with Intel, the Tesla CEO had suggested that discussing a collaboration “would probably be worth it,” while the company maintains contacts and negotiations with external suppliers to integrate and scale the production of its AI processors.
Push for autonomous driving
The push towards Terafab stems from the conviction, expressed by Musk himself, that even in the best-case scenario the volumes provided by external manufacturers would not be sufficient for Tesla’s needs. Hence the idea of creating a plant larger than a traditional Gigafactory, thus capable of guaranteeing the required production level. At the moment Tesla has not provided further official details and has not immediately responded to requests regarding timelines and technical partners.
