Is Tesla considering producing its own silicon chips? Even Elon Musk is uncertain. Let’s wait and see if the company is willing to compete with Samsung and TSMC.

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Elon Musk, the visionary entrepreneur behind Tesla, has suggested that the automotive giant may venture into producing its own silicon chips in the future. While this concept is currently tentative, it is not entirely out of the realm of possibilities for the company.

Tesla currently heavily invests in silicon technology, particularly for its Dojo ExaPod supercomputer, which provides exceptional computing power for training machine learning models used in Tesla’s self-driving capabilities. Musk mentioned in February 2024 that Tesla is expected to spend a significant amount on Nvidia and AMD hardware this year to remain competitive in the AI field. Although creating its own AI chips may be unfeasible for Tesla, the idea of producing chips for its vehicles is not entirely out of the question.

Notably, Tesla presently relies on Samsung for the primary chips used in its Autopilot feature. Establishing a chip manufacturing facility dedicated to producing processors specifically for this function would be a substantial endeavor. While the task is challenging, it is not insurmountable for a company of Tesla’s caliber.

“Tesla could do it…”

A recent exchange on Twitter between Musk and renowned game developer John Carmack has ignited speculation in the tech community. Carmack pondered the possibility of a large tech entity creating its own customized chips rather than competing with established general-purpose chip manufacturers. Musk responded by saying, “Tesla could do it, but I sure hope we don’t have to.”

In light of concerns surrounding the dependence on Korean, Taiwanese, and Chinese chip suppliers, the idea of internalizing silicon development is understandably enticing for Tesla. However, given the complexities associated with such an endeavor, the company is likely to maintain the current status quo unless a compelling reason arises to initiate a shift.

According to PC Gamer, the sentiment is that investing billions in developing chips internally, with the risk of encountering issues over an extended period, may not be the most prudent decision when established and cost-effective businesses can handle the task efficiently.